A Beautiful Oblivion
by Yami no Mira
Summary: A certain CEO wishes for a normal life. What happens after that would make anyone think about the old saying to be careful what you wish for...You just might get it.
1. Prologue

Seto Kaiba sighed internally. There were days when he felt that he had the patience of a saint. Today was not one of them. While he might be tempted to blame his current irritation on the innate restlessness of any other seventeen year old male (and Mokuba would possibly insist on it), Kaiba seriously doubted it.

He figured it _could_ have something to do with the variety of ridiculous and – to be quite frank – asinine ideas his marketing team had scraped from the bottom of an exceedingly derelict barrel. His sapphire gaze narrowed on his newest target and he felt pleased to see the man pale for a second.

Stan Nevin had been with Kaiba Corporation's marketing division for fifteen years. Ten of those years had been spent at the American region of the company. He'd been transferred five years ago to Domino City. While the man had made a remarkable adjustment to Japan, Kaiba was more than a little put off by Nevin's current production levels.

Nevin had enjoyed twenty years of marriage to his blonde high school sweetheart, Eileen, and had two children with her. Toby was a fifteen year old sophomore and his sister Moira was a thirteen year old freshman. Nevin had been slacking off lately due to an affair he was having on the side with an intern five years older than his son. Thusly, Nevin's production levels had lagged and produced sloppy presentations, backed up his assigned work, and resulted in a particularly casual air to his attire.

Seto Kaiba did not suffer a fool, especially a sloppily dressed one. And he particularly did not tolerate a man cheating on his family. Yet was certain that he did not want to tear apart a family by exposing the man's infidelity.

There really was only one thing left to do.

"…and so, the marketing team believes it will be an excellent idea to laser etch the Kaiba Corporation logo onto millions of eggs to be distributed in the largest grocery stores in the city and beyond…"

"While I have no doubt that laser etched eggs will grab the city's attention," Kaiba's tone of voice informed the group of fifteen that he was both bored and a little peeved all at once. "I think more that Kaiba Corp would be the talk of the town, radio talk shows, and late night talk shows all at once."

"Exactly!" Nevin interrupted his boss and was beaming at the assumed praise. "Not only will everyone be talking about Kaiba Corp, they'll be thinking about it as they make breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"

"Actually, they'll theoretically be _eating _Kaiba Corp," Kaiba tilted his head to the side in a dangerously and deceptively benign pose. "And the old saying is that you are what you eat. Why would you want someone to become Kaiba Corp, and in theory, becoming as powerful or even more powerful than Kaiba Corp?"

Sensing that something was wrong, Nevin gulped visually. "Uh, n..no, Sir. We wouldn't want that."

The surrounding men shuffled papers or looked among themselves. They definitely didn't want _his _attention on them. There was a general feeling of a lion picking out a wounded zebra from the herd. And this lion was hungry.

"Based on your ideas and that you are the head of your department…"

Nevin relaxed a little. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"…And based on your…extracurricular activities which seem to keep you preoccupied," Kaiba steepled his fingers. "I believe that Kaiba Corp no longer needs your services."

Nevin paled and his eyes widened. "What?!"

"Security has already emptied your office. Your escort out is at the door."

At that, the double doors to the room opened and four security guards stepped through.

Nevin took a step back, but froze at the guards with their guns. "You can't!"

"I already have." Kaiba shrugged. "Farewell, Nevin. Good luck explaining this to your wife."

"But…"

"And do forget about Mikuna," Kaiba smiled thinly. "She's already had her internship canceled and she's looking for a new one."

Nevin gaped again. "H…how did you know?"

Kaiba's smile vanished as if it had never been there. "This is not just my company, Nevin, it's my life. I _am_ Kaiba Corporation. I know _everything. _Leave now, peaceably, and I won't have to press charges."

"For what?!"

The sapphire gaze narrowed to near slits. "Youand I both know what. Do you wish for everyone in this room to know?"

'Everything' included slight embezzlement on the side.

Nevin grew paler but shook his head. "You're a bastard!"

"Actually, my parentage isn't the subject on hand," Kaiba shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not the one facing an impending divorce."

"No, you never will because no woman would be stupid or crazy enough to marry a cold, heartless bastard like you!" Nevin shouted. "You've ruined my life! Do you know what I _did_ to get this job?!"

Kaiba was unruffled. "Yes."

Nevin took a step back, then lunged at his now former boss. The security, some of Kaiba's most trusted, rushed the man and captured him before Nevin got two steps in Kaiba's direction.

The teen CEO hadn't flinched or moved a muscle. He didn't have to. Even if the security guards hadn't been there in time, Kaiba knew martial arts as thoroughly as he knew his company. "Please take Mister Nevin to the curb with the rest of the trash. See to it that he loads his belongings into the taxi waiting outside for him."

Nevin was dragged out of the room, screaming insults and threats until one of the guards told the ex-employee about lawsuits for breech of contract, embezzlement, and threats of bodily harm. He shut up fast. He knew that the lawyers Kaiba had on retainer were as cutthroat and lethal as the CEO himself.

Kaiba turned a blasé glance at the remaining men. "Any other suggestions?"

* * *

a beautiful oblivion  
**by Yami no Mira**

* * *

**Author's Note: **This story is an Alternate Universe (AU) story set after the Orichalcos saga but before the KC Grand Prix. Please keep in mind that this story is completely AU, has nothing to do with any ongoing storyline, and is not to be taken as anything other than something to read and enjoy.

The lyrics at the beginning of each chapter are meant to set an atmosphere. They are also the lyrics to the song that inspired this story.

**Update: ** This is a re-edited version of 'a beautiful oblivion.' There were a lot of things about it that I didn't like on the re-read, so I tweaked it. I hope you enjoy it even more!

۞

**  
**The tick tock of the clock is painful  
all sane and logical  
I want to tear it off the wall

In the end, it all came down to a cup of coffee. A cinnamon spice mocha grandé with whipped cream and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon, to be precise. It wasn't something Seto Kaiba would normally indulge in, and especially not on a whim, but after the long day he'd had so far – as in it wasn't over yet– he had felt an unexpected need for something hot to drink.

It was Friday, the thirteenth of October, but he wasn't fool enough to believe in the legendary properties of superstitions. Even so, things had seemed to be worse than any other day. First there had been residual onlookers from an early morning accident between a city bus and a car. Their gawking had held his limo up in traffic on the way to school. Then, in his advanced biology class, he'd realized that the battery on his PDA had died down to almost nothing and that he'd neglected to pack the back up battery in his briefcase.

The most fun he'd had all day was the public firing of Stan Nevin.

But even that wasn't the end of things for Seto Kaiba. There was still an eight o'clock board meeting tonight. From the notes he'd picked up from his head secretary, Seto was certain the meeting would stretch late into the night.

Not even the stirring events that happened at school could rouse him from the daily hum that came with being the head of a major corporation. Even if a couple of students, who just happened to share the same geology class that he took, would be able to upset him. No matter how much they tried. If dueling with God Cards wouldn't shake him, if dealing with that damned Isis Ishtar wouldn't phase him, Seto Kaiba would happily be damned to the third rung of hell if he'd let two pubescent boys shake him with crass remarks.

After all, he hadn't been the one to tell them to waste three hundred dollars on Kaibaland slot machines. And he certainly hadn't told the children to steal it from their parent's bank accounts.

The Starbucks he had gone into was just around the corner from Domino High. He had only been in it twice before and, since he was one of the A-list celebrities in Domino, one of those times had been at its grand opening. The other time had been a quick stop last winter to get some hot chocolate for Mokuba after the two had taken a rare early morning walk.

On entering the store this time, the smell of fresh coffee had hit him like a brick wall, but he'd welcomed it and every hassle seemed to vanish almost completely just by inhaling the heady coffee scent. The store itself was warm, both in temperature and atmosphere, and there was a steady mix of teenagers and adults that populated the room.

At first he'd been stared at, but that quickly changed when he deliberately iced up his stance. He didn't even have to worry about paying for his coffee. Not after a teenaged admirer in line behind him had fawned and insisted she pay for his beverage. Normally Seto would have glared until she backed off, but this day he did not care.

Uncharacteristic of him? Perhaps.

With the way his day had been, it wasn't something that would keep him up all night; to be full of worries about what people thought about him.

He'd taken his coffee to a private booth in the back. The location gave him an excellent vantage point of the store. He had thought about taking out his laptop and working on the notes he'd prepared last night for tonight's meeting, but discarded that thought. Tonight's meeting was suddenly the very last thing he wanted to think about.

For now, he was just going to relax, or at least _attempt_ to. Try as he might to not think about it, his thoughts kept swimming back to the churlish conversation that had gone on between the two male classmates.

The boys had been talking loud enough for him to hear, but soft enough that the teacher wouldn't. Seto had ignored them as only he could. Despite his emotionless expression, the boys had kept on with their comments. To a lesser person, the comments would have enough potential to damage self-confidence.. Self-confidence was what Kaiba had a lot of.

The only thing that irritated him about the comments was the potential for making him miss hearing something the teacher said. Though the class itself was easy, he wasn't fool enough to ignore the teacher. The last thing he wanted was to miss advance notification of a test or paper, especially due to the menial chit-chat around him.

He hadn't been embarrassed by their cutting words, or ashamed because one of the kids had lost money at one of the games. He had kept as calm, cool, and collected on the inside as he managed on the outside, and he held back his temper by repeating his mantra for such occasions.

_Show no irrational emotions or they will know they have the better of you, and **no one** gets the better of Seto Kaiba._

They'd even had the audacity to wait around after class to try to berate him. One had been waiting specifically for him. The other had lazed against one of the lockers that lined the hallway. Kuri Elohssa and his friend Jack D'Aria. Memories of the conversation were still sharp in his mind.

"_Your company cheated me!"_

He'd turned around, momentarily surprised at the outburst, _"What did you say?"_

"_You heard me," _the blonde had been held back by his friend._ "Arrgh, lemme go!"_

"_Stay here, Kuri," _the brunette had talked in a tone as lazy as his earlier slouch_, "I told you he had nothing to do with it."_

"_Kaibaland has **everything** to do with **him**, Jack, and you know it." _The angry teen had turned back towards Kaiba but didn't make another move._ "Your DMA slots suck! I wasted my allowance on it! You owe me three hundred dollars!"_

The kids had instantly reminded him of Wheeler and his idiot friend Tristan. That fact alone rubbed Seto the wrong way. The **_DMA_** the first kid had been ranting about was a slot machine called _Dark Magic Attack._ Money wasn't the object of the game as with normal slot machines. It had been Mokuba's idea to have duel monster cards being the prize. Common cards could be won easily, while it took combinations to get rare cards. A rare card would be issued if the correct line up of icons was achieved in a three play winning streak.

In spite of the three play win requirement, the machine had unlimited game time at a dollar per pull of the machine. What kind of an idiot kept playing if they kept loosing? Other than Joey. Seems that even the mutt may have met his match.

Seto sighed softly over his coffee as he remembered how he'd answered. It was a satisfied sigh that plainly said he'd do it all again and say the same thing to them.

"_You have a lot of nerve, kid. There _**are**_ no refunds. If you had read the signs in the game room, you would have known that. And if you can't read, then I suggest you stay in school instead of playing slot machines."_

He'd then smirked as he turned around and walked calmly down the nearly deserted hallway. A few stragglers had seen the exchange and moved quickly out of his way, but the whispers followed him after he turned the corner.

There was nothing in his reply or actions that he would have changed. Annoyances such as Kuri and his friend were a dime a dozen and no where near as complex to deal with as double-crossing board members were. He sighed again and took another sip of coffee.

He reflected on how sometimes high school felt every bit as difficult to deal with as running a corporation. He didn't have time to worry about what two kids thought about him. He had bigger things to worry about; namely making sure Kaiba Corp stayed in its lofty position.

The worries the other students had paled in comparison to his own. There was no pressure in worrying about asking a girl out to a movie or turning in homework on time. He'd rather enjoy seeing the others squirm at the thought of year end revenues or keeping thousands of employees happy enough to come in day after day. That thought alone brought a small, cold smile to his face.

Still, a tiny part of him wondered what it would be like to have nothing more to worry about than being home by curfew. An unspoken wish of a normal life, without such advanced, adult worries, resonated through him. He took a deep breath and mentally shoved the wish away, deep into his subconscious mind. It wouldn't do to wish for unreasonable things like that.

He drank more of his coffee and thought back on the last class at school. Once the teacher had realized the final bell was about to ring, she had called out the assignment due for tomorrow. Most of the kids had groaned at the mere thought of doing the thirty assigned geology problems, much less doing them at all.

Seto relished it all. The more challenging the homework was, the more he enjoyed it. He walked through school the same way he walked through his company, and he would take down anyone who opposed him.

_Well, just about anyone,_ Seto thought ruefully, _Yugi Mouto has escaped a take down so far, but soon I **will** let him know what it's like to be second best in dueling. Then the world will know him for the fraud he is. Heart of the cards, my ass._

Opening his briefcase, he flipped through some papers in the built in binder, and stopped when his fingers brushed something unfamiliar. He pulled it half out of the binder and scowled down at it. It was one of the smaller celebrity weekly magazines. He almost shoved it at the back of his briefcase when he noticed something written on the cover of the magazine in Mokuba's messy scrawl.

**_I know how much you love glaring at people, but I think sometimes you should try to smile. Maybe this will help._**

_I don't need any help in smiling,_ Seto frowned at the marker that was scribbled all over some blonde woman's face, then realized he was glaring at the magazine. He sighed, relaxed his features, and pulled the magazine out. Mokuba had chosen to grace his briefcase with the latest edition of _Domino Celebrity Lives, _a weekly gossip magazine that tracked all of the celebrities in Domino.

Seto took great pains to ignore the magazine and all who worked for it. Not only were they as bad as any other gossip magazine, they were persistent to the point of being sued. They had tried to do an exposé of him last month while he was on a date. It had been a date with a the daughter of his assistant's secretary, a blonde girl his own age that, at first, hadn't seemed to be an empty-headed ditz.

A small smile tugged at his lips. She'd turned out to be too much of a simpering fool for his tastes; the sort of person who wouldn't just read _Domino Celebrity Lives,_ but one that yearned to be _in_ it.

Still, he flipped through the magazine, if only to appease his little brother. If he were of the type, he would almost swear he could sense Mokuba looking over his shoulder, making sure his brother was reading the magazine.

After a few pages, he quickly realized that only idiots would read such foolish dribble.

He didn't notice the jingle of the bell above the entrance doors that announced yet another customer entering this particular Starbucks. Instead, he irrationally imagined that he was just any other teenager sitting in a coffeehouse after school, reading a gossip rag. As if he had nothing more interesting to do that night other than going out with a group of friends.

But that was not the fate for Seto Kaiba. Instead of going out to the movies, he'd be in a conference room going over he latest numbers with his board. The board members were four trusted men and were nothing like the Big Five that Gozaburo, the man who had adopted Seto and Mokuba, had hired. _Nothing_ at all.

They also had no chance of being any sort of threat to his company. Not like the Big Five had been. Seto had no desire to be burned again by people he thought he trusted.

_Still, it might be a nice change to not be the one in charge, _a voice whispered in his mind.

Seto ignored the voice, and sucked down a mouthful of the hot liquid. He closed his eyes and felt the heat of it track through his body.

Suddenly someone slipped into the booth seat opposite his. He opened his eyes to see the last person he _wanted_ to see on such a ghastly day. Seto didn't speak to him and settled for glaring frostily at the newcomer.

"Yo, Kaiba, buy a pal a drink."

"You're not my pal, Mutt," Seto sneered. Anger coursed through him at the crude sound of Wheeler's accented voice, "And if you don't leave this booth immediately, I'll have you thrown out."

"Thrown out of a _Starbucks_?" Joey laughed, "Moneybags, you are just _cracking_ me up."

"I wish."

"What's that ya got?" Joey leaned over and snatched the magazine. "What! You're reading onea these!"

"Mokuba put it in my briefcase," Seto snatched the offending magazine back and shoved it into the briefcase, "Not that it's any of your business."

"Now that's lame. Blamin' it on your baby bro," Joey sat back in the booth seat, leaning against the wall and propping his feet up on the green vinyl seat. "That's like payin him to go with you to a Pokemon movie just so you don't look like an idiot goin' by y'self."

Seto raised an eyebrow, "You sound like quite the expert, Wheeler."

"Hey, I ain't never done nothin' like that," Joey rubbed at his nose, "I was just sayin' is all."

"I'm sure," Seto checked his watch, a platinum Rolex Masterpiece that Mokuba gave him last Christmas. "As much as I hate to leave you and your ever charming presence, I have a meeting to go to."

Joey watched as Seto got up, leaving his coffee behind. "Whatcha doin' this weekend, rich boy."

It wasn't a question and it irritated Seto. The mutt spoke to him as if they were on equal terms.

He regarded Joey with cold blue eyes, then smirked, "I'm going to take my private jet to Tahiti. Have fun raking leaves, puppy."

"Y'always be a jerk, Kaiba."

"And you'll always be a shabby mongrel, Wheeler."

If the exchange between the two was noted by others in the coffee shop, they had the presence of mind not to say anything. Joey watched as the teen CEO walked out of _Starbucks_, watched as others watched him but said nothing. Watched how, as soon as the door closed behind Kaiba and he walked out of sight, the commotion began.

Joey smiled wistfully, knowing full well that such a thing would never happen to him unless he did something incredible, like beat Seto or Yugi in a top ranking duel. He knew he could walk out of _Starbucks_ the same way Kaiba did and no one would notice or be on their cell phones calling friends to say they saw the great Joey Wheeler.

"Of course, it's like what they say," Joey said, grabbing Kaiba's abandoned cup of coffee. "Practice makes perfect."

And he did walk out of _Starbucks_, holding on to Kaiba's still warm coffee, and silently mocking the reserved saunter Kaiba had. The bell above the door chimed gently as the door closed behind him. He looked back at the store from the corner of his amber eyes, looked through the floor to ceiling plate glass windows, and imagined that the phone calls and clamor still going on from Kaiba's exit were phone calls and clamor for the one and only Joey Wheeler.

۞

Hey, maybe someday, Joey. Have hope!

Yes, Kuri and his friend Jack are still in this version (I told Jack I'd _never_ let go!) Yes, Stan was a new addition, but I couldn't resist.

The egg thing is real. I snatched it from a topic of conversation on a talk radio show I'd listened to. I forget which tv network was going to do it (if they even did do it), but they were going to etch their logo, along with sayings from their hit shows, all in advertising on eggs).

I think Kaiba has a great point though. You are what you eat!


	2. Chapter 1

_chalk white and oh so frail _

* * *

The scent of lilies woke me.

When I first opened my eyes, all I saw was darkness. I panicked, then felt stupid when I noticed that my eyes were just taking time to adjust to the darkness. Wherever I was, it was night and the air around me was still in the near pitch dark. I jiggled my shoulders and hissed at the sudden flare of pain that came with that movement.

Panting slightly, I felt the pain slowly subside. Then I realized that I was laying in bed and for some reason that didn't sit well with me. From what I could see in the dark, the ceiling above me looked like it had large white tiles. What kind of a bedroom ceiling has white tiles? I knew, without looking at the whole room, that I was not in a familiar place. It just didn't feel right. Where was I?

Something near me was making a slightly erratic beeping sound. I had to see what the beeping noise came from. A little wary of the earlier pain, I shifted just barely and immediately felt red-hot spikes of pain race through my whole body, especially throughout my head. The pain made me groan out loud and the steady beeping became more erratic than it already was. I wanted to move my arms to rub at the pain in my forehead, but it felt like someone had attached weights to my arms. I couldn't move them at all.

White ceiling, beeping machine, no one bothering me...It hit me that I was in a hospital. But where and _why_? What could have happened to me to land me in a hospital?

Unfortunately, it seemed that there was still no one was around to answer my unspoken questions. What I could see of my surroundings wasn't much. Someone had pulled a long, white ceiling hung curtain around my bed, so all I really could see was a long row of floral bouquets, some elaborate and some not, that lined the far wall. I could see the and identify the flowers: roses, lilies, and smaller decorative blooms bobbing in a slight air conditioned breeze. The cloying scent of the flowers was annoying and I wished someone would come and take them away. There were a few balloons attached to the flowers and they bobbed and swayed in an artificial breeze.

Suddenly, a warmth enveloped my left arm. Almost as abruptly as the warmth came, a sleepy feeling overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes and listened to the beeping grow slower, steadier. The sound, though eerie, was oddly soothing and, accompanied by the unexpected sleepiness, I let myself drift off to sleep.

* * *

_:What are you doing here?:_

The voice echoed around me; its tone was feminine and somewhat chastising.

"Another unfamiliar place," I sighed and looked around. White was all around me.

What the _fuck_ was the obsession with the color white? At least the decorating was the same, even if this felt like it was outdoors.

_:We are not outdoors,:_ The voice said gently, _:But you do look lost.:_

"I feel lost." A spark of a thought ran through my mind, evading me, teasing me. "What's going on?"

_:You do not like being confused.:_ A statement, solid and certain.

"No..." I looked behind me when I thought I'd seen movement. "I thought I'd just seen something important, but...I can't catch it. I can't reach it." It dawned on me then that I was standing and that I felt whole and healthy. I looked around, knowing with a certainty that I needed to find the source of that voice. "Where are you? Can you help me?"

_:Only you can help yourself.:_ The voice sounded wistful, _:I wish that I could help you, but I must not. He will not let _ _me._

"He? Who...who is he?" Frustrated, I clenched my fists at my sides. "WHERE ARE YOU!"

_:Behind you.:_

Spinning around, all I saw was a wall of white that looked as if it were made of clouds. White hot panic flared through me when a hand reached out through the wall and I took a step away from it.

_:Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you.:_

"Where are we?"

_:That I cannot answer and I am sorry for that. For now, you need to...:_ The hand had delicate tapering fingers, and the index finger reached forward and touched me on my forehead, right between my eyebrows. _:...wake up.:_

_Wake up... _

"…Wake up," A different voice, young and male, shattered my dream with its softly pleading tone. "_Please_, wake up."

My left hand felt as if it were in a vise and I worried momentarily about that. The beeping from the machine shifted, matching the fact that I was waking up. I didn't want to. I wanted to go back to that dream, to see who it was I had been talking to. She sounded…familiar.

Once again, I opened my eyes to see the white ceiling, only this time the tiles seemed to be edged by a grey haze. A few slow blinks cleared the haze and I cautiously looked around without moving my head. I couldn't see much but I saved myself some pain.

There was a difference in the room. For one thing, it seemed to be sometime during the day. Sunlight shone through the windows to my right, and slanted beams fell onto the flowers closest to the windows.

The second thing different was that the curtain had been pulled back to reveal that I was in a private room. A cot had been set up to the other side of the curtain, where a second bed could have been. There was a pillow on it as well as a thin sheet that looked as if it had been thrown back in a hurry. The remaining wall space was taken up with more floral bouquets. I was getting sick of seeing _and_ smelling them. It smelled like a damned funeral parlor in here.

A neon-orange plastic chair had been pulled up to my bedside and someone was sitting in it. A young boy with long messy black hair had his head laying on the bed. He wore a long sleeved blue shirt and jeans. The pressure I'd felt had been due to him clutching my left hand as if it were a lifeline. Even though my hand ached, I doubted it solely came from him holding my hand. I squeezed his hand gently, if anything to alert him that I was conscious.

The response was immediate. His head shot up and he looked at me with wide, reddened grey eyes. His tear streaked face paled when he saw that I was looking at him. He let go of my hand, sat back quickly, and rubbed at his runny nose with one of his long sleeves. "You're awake..." His eyes filled with tears and he threw himself at me, clinging to me tightly and sobbing great heaving sounds.

His tears tore through me, quite literally. I hissed sharply as pain bloomed along my side. He pulled back with an apology and ran a hand through his hair. As I looked at him, my vision got blurry then sharpened up, then got blurry again. I closed my eyes momentarily, but opened them when he started talking. This time my vision stayed sharp.

"You're finally awake!" His words had a small echo to them. "How are you feeling? Does your arm hurt? When can you come home?"

The questions came in a rapid fire succession, and while the annoying echo faded with each question, the quick rate barely gave me time to think of an answer. The beeping, which had gotten a little more erratic when he had hugged me, slowed to a more relaxed pace.

My mind sharpened, clearing itself of the thick brain fog that had muddled my mind, and I tried to pull myself up into a sitting position on the bed. When both my stomach and the room started spinning, I gave up and laid back against the pillow. How could something as simple as sitting be impossible to accomplish? "Look, I hurt all over, okay? What do you want, kid?"

"You want me to call a nurse or something?" A worried expression replaced his cheerful appearance. "Or is it your arm? Do you want more morphine?"

"What...morphine?" For a second, I just looked around the room. We were the only ones in the room, other than the annoying row of floral bouquets lining the back wall.

"Don't you remember?" he asked.

"Remember? No...I don't remember," Fringes of brown hair fell over my eyes and no attempt at blowing at them got rid of them. "Can you just tell me _what's going on_."

Maybe I should have apologized for the curt tone, because what I had said definitely wasn't a question. I almost did apologize when I saw a flash of hurt cross over his face.

"You were in an accident a week ago. After school, you stopped at a coffee shop. You..." He paused and took a deep breath. It looked hard for him to talk about. "A little boy had tripped while crossing a street and was almost hit by a car. You pushed him out of the way, but the car clipped you."

It was quite a story. What the hell was I supposed to say to that?

"I'll go get a nurse," He said, and turned to leave the room.

"Wait..."

He turned around and I almost cringed at the hope that brightened his face, "Yeah?"

There was no way to pretty this up.

"Who are you?" I asked bluntly.

The kid's eyes widened and his smile disappeared. "Seto…" The shock on his face was reflected in his voice, which cracked with emotion. "Are you joking?"

"I'm sorry," I tried to gentle my tone. "I couldn't guess your name if I tried."

"Why not try?" His voice was hopeful.

So I tried. "Seto?"

"It's Mokuba. My name is Mokuba. _Your _name is Seto." Hurt was etched on his face. "I'm your brother."

_My brother?! _

He ran from the room and I sighed. This day was just getting better and better.

* * *

It turned out that Mokuba hadn't run away like I thought he would. He'd just gone to talk with the doctor in charge of me. Doctor Mueller was a tall lean man in his forties. His black hair was streaked with silver, but he looked younger than he was. He and Mokuba had apparently had a very long talk about me and why I hadn't known who Mokuba was.

We'd had a stilted day, Mokuba and I had, and most of it had passed with me falling asleep again. The next thing I knew, it was a couple of days after I'd woken to see Mokuba crying at my bedside. It was around…Oh hell, I didn't know because I didn't have a watch, but it was sometime in the morning when the good doctor gave me The News.

He had entered the room with Mokuba following him. The kid had a look on his face that was part hurt and part frost. He also shunned me, to a point, and sat in a plastic chair on the far side of the room.

"Unfortunately, I'd been afraid this could happen," Doctor Mueller sighed and replaced the chart to the wall hook near my bed, "Despite the injuries to your wrist and head and the bruising to your ribs, all of the other tests came back with good results. However, it appears you have a low level of amnesia."

"You don't say," I muttered tersely. My gaze flickered over to the kid – Mokuba – who was sitting in the hard plastic neon orange chair. He looked positively shell shocked. The chair was the gaudiest orange shade I'd ever seen. A part of me wondered at the certainty of that thought.

"…and so you can go home anytime you want."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. It sounded like you said I could go home at any time."

"I did say that."

"But I couldn't even remember my own name!" I said frantically, not caring that I let the panic I felt inside into my voice. "How can you even _possibly_ consider sending me home?"

In the time since Mokuba and the doctor had had their talk, I'd been put through test after test, most of them with initials that began to give me a headache when I tried to decipher them. CAT scan, MRI, EKG, ECG…The list went on and on.

Right now I was sitting at the foot of my hospital bed. I was dressed in the freshly washed outfit I'd come in, which I'd found out was a high school uniform. There had been a trench coat too, a white one, but that had been torn and bloodied beyond repair. I'd quietly wondered what sort of a person would nearly run over a child, hit someone else, and take off without seeing if the person they hit was alive or not. A small part of me was acutely angry at the thought and I had to agree with it.

A troubled look was on Mokuba's face and I wondered if he realized how much he was frowning. I knew enough to know that kids that young – I guessed him to be eleven or twelve at the most – shouldn't be frowning. The thought that he had such an expression due to me tugged at me and I resolved to regain my memories as soon as I possibly could.

"Your memories should return over time once the swelling in your head goes down," the doctor said gently, "And also, many patients have found that familiar surroundings will bring back lost memories faster than the sterile environment of a hospital."

"What about school?" I tugged at the hem of my school jacket for emphasis, "Surely I can't go back yet."

"It's Friday now," the doctor frowned momentarily and looked at his watch, "Even though it's only nine in the morning, I wouldn't allow you to go back to school. Frankly, I can't imagine any teenager willing to go to school."

Mokuba defended me, "Seto's a wiz at school! He does better than anyone else."

"I know, Mokuba," the doctor nodded. "I'm not the only one who knows how important your brother is to Domino General Hospital, or to this very city. What I mean is that he should stay home for a few days to a week to recuperate."

I scowled, "From what? Personally speaking, I feel fine." At that, a muscle in my right shoulder went on a small twitching spree. Luckily it was unnoticed by Mokuba or Dr. Mueller, and it was more annoying than anything.

"You were clipped by a car that was traveling at a high rate of speed. You're lucky that your instinct forced you into a roll. If you hadn't, you would have been injured far greater than you have been." Dr. Mueller looked at me directly, "You're a lucky young man, Seto Kaiba. Even so, your head took quite a pounding when it hit the pavement."

A shiver ran up my spine when he said my full name. It held a ring of power that didn't feel right when applied to me. It made me feel like I wasn't that person. It felt more like I was filling in until the real Seto Kaiba got back.

Dr. Mueller continued, unaware of my internal turmoil, "For the next few weeks, you will need to be in a stress free environment…"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Mokuba roll his eyes at those last three words.

"…in order to be certain he won't be susceptible to dizzy spells or the possibility of migraines." The doctor fixed me with a steely gaze. "Until the swelling goes down, you _will_ get headaches. You'll be sent home with a prescription medicine for any headaches, but you must call me or an emergency service if you get a headache that you feel is strong in its intensity. That could be a sign of something critically wrong."

"Like what?"

"An aneurism for one thing," the doctor said grimly. "If you get one of those, you won't have to worry about anything after that."

Mokuba's eyes widened, "You mean he could die from one of those!"

"I'm sorry to be so grim, but it is a very real possibility. You keep yourself in remarkable physical condition, Seto, and that is what kept your injuries from being more severe than they could have been." The doctor paused to clear his throat, "Still, as I said earlier, you'll have to stay home for around a week You also must be in a low stress level environment until your head injury has time to heal from the bruising and swelling. The wrist will take longer, but you should be unaffected since you're right handed."

Mokuba shook his head emphatically, "He can't spend all day at home! He has a company to run!"

"I know, Mokuba," Doctor Mueller said. He sounded tired.

I snorted in disdain, "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

How on earth could a teenager be in charge of any company? True, it could be a tiny little start up company that began in a garage and got no further than the garage, but a teenager in charge of a corporation type company? It was too peculiar to think about.

It was almost funny to see Mokuba look so startled. Then the kid sighed. "I guess I could do something..." He bit at his lower lip. "Better yet, Roland could help me look over the daily operations until Seto gets better."

Daily operations? From the serious tone of Mokuba's voice, I was beginning to think this company wasn't run from some garage.

"I'll make an appointment for you to have another MRI next Saturday," the doctor wrote on his notepad. "We'll see how well you've progressed in healing."

He left and a nurse walked in with a clipboard, "If you can sign these discharge forms, you can be on your way home within the hour."

Taking a pen from the nurse, I took a deep breath, let it out, and signed the first papers with Seto Kaiba's name.

* * *

It was quarter after four when Téa Gardner found herself in the lobby of Domino General. After a week of hearing Joey being smug about Kaiba being hurt – something Yami was also enjoying immensely – and seeing Yugi worrying about his absent rival, Téa had decided it would be best to go first hand to see about his condition.

The high school staff was being tight lipped about anything they knew and the news media had nothing on television or in the newspapers other than the fact that Seto Kaiba had been rushed to the hospital and that his condition was stable. The driver still had not been caught, though the police were searching for the driver and the car.

Téa walked up to the nurse's station, which was a mix of a reception area and information desk, and waited in line behind a man in a suit. She looked back at Joey and Yugi, who were waiting nearby at a stand of public phones.

Joey made a "turn around" motion and gave her a thumbs up. Téa turned back and saw that the suited man was talking to a nurse at the desk and another nurse was waving her over.

Téa walked over and smiled at the woman. "Hello, can you tell me if Seto Kaiba will be alright?"

The nurse's eyes widened slightly, "I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking about."

Téa was worried she'd face something like this. "He was rushed over here last Friday by…" She broke off when the nurse broke in.

"I'm sorry but I can't give out any confidential information to anyone but family," the nurse said it amiably, but her eyes conveyed another message:

_"Keep your voice low!"_

"Oh, um," Téa lowered her voice, "I know he was brought here last Friday afternoon and my friends and I know him," Téa nodded towards Yugi and Joey, who looked suddenly interested in the phones. "Joey over there was the one who called the ambulance, and we all just wanted to know if he was okay."

"Isn't that Yugi Mouto?"

"Uh, yeah it is," Téa looked confused.

The nurse rummaged through a file drawer and slid something onto the counter. "If he could just sign this release form, I can help you out."

Téa looked down at the paper, which was shielded from the other nurse's view thanks to a flower arrangement on the counter. "It's a…"

"Release form, I know," the nurse said calmly. "If he could…sign it…"

Téa waved Yugi over and the shorter teen ran over.

"What is it?" Yugi's voice sounded like he expected bad news. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, Yugi, if you could just sign this release form, we can get some information on our friend."

Yugi stared at the paper, "But it's a…"

"Release form," Téa looked over at the nurse, who grinned. "Sign it."

Yugi bit at his lip and shook his head, but signed the release form. The nurse took the form back and studied it with a satisfactory look.

The nurse looked over at her co-worker, but that woman was busy with the man in the suit. The nurse looked back at Téa and spoke softly, "I'm not supposed to say anything, so if you tell anyone I could lose my job."

Yugi nodded, "We promise to keep quiet."

The nurse smiled and typed at her computer. She frowned and then her eyes widened. She looked back up at Téa. "I'm sorry, but all I can say is that he was released today. All other information is strictly confidential."

"Was he okay though?" Téa pressed, "We just want to know if he's healthy."

"I saw him when he left earlier this afternoon," The nurse smiled slyly, "He looked very good."

Téa suppressed a repulsed look and thanked the nurse. She and Yugi walked back to Joey. The blonde looked over at them expectantly; waiting patiently was never his strong point.

Yugi sighed, "Well…Kaiba's gone."

"What?" Joey yelped, "Moneybags is dead!"

"Joey, hush! This is a hospital!" Téa smacked at his arm, "Of course he's not dead! Don't you think you'd have heard that on the news?"

"I dunno," Joey snorted, "Kaiba's enough of a dick to die and not let anyone know."

"JOEY!" Téa hissed as her cheeks flamed red, "That's _disgusting_!"

"Téa's right, Joey," Yugi nodded, and his face was also a bit red, "And anyway, Téa only meant that he went home already."

Face still red with embarrassment, Téa herded the two guys towards the exit. She grumbled to herself about all the improper things Joey was bound to spout off about Kaiba.

"A whole week in the hospital and notta word to us," Joey shook his head, "Figures. I only saved tha guy's life."

The two laughed at the blonde, who rolled his eyes at his friends. The glass doors slid open at their approach and as they walked outside, Téa sighed.

"What's wrong?" Yugi looked over at the brunette.

"Nothing much," Téa said, "it's just weird that you're about as much of a celebrity as Kaiba is."

"It was just an autograph, Téa," Yugi looked down at the ground and blushed a little, "Nothing more."

"It helped us get information on Kaiba," Téa shrugged, "I guess that's enough." She laughed a little, "I just think it's funny that she had you autograph a Duel Monsters card."

From ahead of them, Joey called back, "C'mon, ya slackers! It's already four thirty! Last one to Yugi's game shop is a rotten egg!"

And with that, the race was on.

* * *

So who saw the "Duel Monster card is a release form" thing a mile away? Yeah...me too.  
More up soon, so stay tuned! Little, tiny hint: You can click the drop down box on the bottom left and select "Story chapter alert" to get emails for when new chapters are added. Isn't that nifty? I thought so too.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Tongue tied and twisted are all my memories**

* * *

Mokuba had told me that the company I allegedly ran was a multi-_billion_ dollar corporation. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around that. Apparently I was also an extremely talented duelist. When I had asked if it was gun dueling (quite honestly the oddest, but only thing, to come to mind), Mokuba had slapped at his own forehead. I figured he'd wanted to slap mine, but had refrained from it.

"_Not dueling with guns,_" he'd said with restrained patience, "_Duel Monsters. The card game._" He'd then shown me a playing card with a white dragon on the front. The back had a swirled black design on a brownish background.

"_That's nice,_" I had said. Looking back now, I can only guess my reaction wasn't the one he'd been hoping for. The card hadn't been an instant cure for my amnesia. Yet I can't say it didn't bring up feelings that I _should_ know what it was, just that I _didn't_ know what it was.

A wheelchair had transported me to an exit marked "Personnel Only Beyond This Door." I'd balked at the wheelchair; even with a spotty memory I knew I didn't want to be in a wheelchair, but it was a hospital policy, so I had to relent. Beyond that door had been a short hallway that joined with a lower level parking garage. The orderly said that the exit was used to shuttle people who were famous or just those who wanted a concealed exit. He'd hinted that the latter were people who had plastic surgery to enhance their looks.

But I digress.

When a black limousine pulled up in front of us, I was taken back a little. Then Mokuba walked out to it and waited for the chauffer to open the door for him. The kid looked back to me and gestured. "Come with me."

It wasn't a big deal getting out of the wheelchair and into the limo. I'd only hit my head, not broken a leg. Okay so I did bruise my wrist and my ribs, but it didn't hurt as much as the doctor made it seem to be. Once inside, I could see that the seats were covered with black, butter soft leather. A mini-bar was stocked with cans of soda and petite bottles of alcohol .

"You thirsty?" Mokuba noticed I'd been staring at the mini-bar.

"No," I clutched at the small prescription bottle of medicine and looked out the window. Scenery sped by as the limousine left the city streets for a highway. We weren't on it for very long and ended up in what I thought was a park.

I held back a low whistle as the limousine pulled into a driveway that was shielded by a variety of greenery. The limousine stopped before a large wrought-iron gate. I could see the driver lean out and press his finger to a drive up security box and then pull back as the gate opened.

"Security around our home is tight," Mokuba explained at my ever confused look. Crystal glasses in the mini-bar chimed against each other as the limo drove through the open gate. "The security box has a fingerprint reader. Only people who are supposed to be here will be allowed in."

The vehicle drove down a black paved drive, and ended up at a circular drive in front of an impressively large, three story red brick manor. "..._This_ is where we live at?"

"If you think the outside is impressive, wait till you see the inside!" Mokuba grinned, "Plus Mariana made your favorite meal to celebrate your coming home."

To be honest, the sight of the manor did nothing to suppress the fear I felt deep inside. If I was the sort of person to have a limo and a manor, what kind of person _was_ I? How important was I? Did I live off a trust fund? Were there any parents? Surely the two of us were _not_ living in a huge manor, with a limo, and a multi-billion corporation, without parents.

The chauffeur opened the door and Mokuba practically flew out of the vehicle. "Come on!"

_Right, kid, maybe give me a little time to get out,_ I thought wryly as I pulled myself out of the limo. For a moment I felt a little dizzy and it wasn't all due to the head injury. The manor was surrounded by meticulously trimmed emerald green lawns. The lawns were flanked by old growth trees. Green leaves were giving in to hues of gold and red. Though it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, I knew we weren't far from the city. From what I could see, this place was amazing.

Mokuba led the way to the manor as the chauffer drove the limo away. I paused to look at a fountain in the bend of the drive. A large but slender marble dragon stood in the center of the fountain. Huge silvery-white wings were outstretched and one clawed foreleg extended to the sky.

"That's the same dragon from the card you showed me."

Mokuba paused to look back. A flash of sadness crossed his face, but it vanished when he smiled broadly, "That's right, big brother!"

I looked at it a little longer, studied the white marble, and frowned at its eyes. "Are those sapphires?"

There was a tug at my right hand, the one clutching the medicine. I looked down to see Mokuba, "Come on. I haven't told the staff about the amnesia."

"Are you going to?"

"I'm not sure yet if we should. I don't know how safe it would be," He paused. "And anyway, you wouldn't stare at the dragon for very long."

We walked up stone stairs to a wide stone front porch. One of the wooden double doors swung open at our approach to reveal an older man dressed in a black uniform. "Welcome home, Master Kaiba." He stepped back as we walked inside.

_Master?_

The man had a British accent, and that I could place it gave me hope for reclaiming the rest of my memory. That I could recall what a British accent sounded like, but not my own name, also made me wonder how much of my memory I'd lost. Was it selective or whole chunks? I obviously knew enough to walk and talk, but if Mokuba wasn't here to hold my hand through this…

I think I'd be locked up in some mental hospital. Despite how important the doctor had said I was, I had a gut feeling that I didn't have many people as close to me as Mokuba was.

"Where are our parents?"

Mokuba paled so quickly I thought he was going to faint. He looked around almost frantically, but the butler had vanished. We were alone in a huge foyer.

"Mokuba?"

"I…I…I don't know how to tell you."

His distress was obvious. "Don't worry about it. You can tell me later." I didn't want to stress him out.

He recovered quickly to my question, though I could see pain lingering in his eyes. He led me down a slightly curving hallway and I noticed something about this home. It was old money. Wood covered the walls and ceiling, while the hardwood floors went from oriental rug covered to well polished bare floors covered only by furniture.

The manor was decorated in what I could only think of as traditional met with technology. Old looking furniture that was in excellent condition was placed among high tech equipment. As we passed one room, I caught a glimpse of a large television that seemed to be hanging on the wall.

"How many rooms are there here?" I was astonished at the amount of rooms we'd walked by so far. "The least you could do is give me a map so I don't get lost."

"You're silly," Mokuba giggled, "You won't get lost."

Doubt tickled my stomach and as Mokuba led me up a wide set of oriental carpeted stairs, I thought I caught glimpses of some of the staff members. Two women, middle aged, had their hair pulled into buns and they were dressed in black skirts with white shirts and a black vest.

Black and white.

Apparently the old me didn't have any grey areas in his life.

Mokuba led me to the second level to a bedroom. I use the term 'bedroom' lightly, since my bedroom made a penthouse suite at the Hilton seem small. It had a sitting area, an office, and a huge bathroom in separate rooms off of the bedroom which was large enough as it was.

The Hilton…

More memories coming back to me?

The room had hardwood floors that had a slightly plush oriental rug in the center. It was a really big rug. The king sized bed had red silk sheets under a grey comforter. I guess the guy did have some grey in his life after all. I put the prescription medicine on the bedside table closest to me.

The closed windows were almost floor to window, and they had heavy dark navy drapes. They looked out over the front of the manor, towards the circular driveway. I could see the statue from here, though its back was turned to me. Water danced at its feet and I could almost hear the tinkling noise the water made.

There was noise behind me, and I turned to see Mokuba walking into another room I hadn't seen. I followed him and was surprised to see a huge walk in closet. It was half as big as the bedroom, complete with a skylight and windows of its own.

"…so I guess you could get out of that uniform. You have plenty of others here for next week and if you want we can send that one down for mending," the kid was digging through a rack of pants and pulled a pair out.

"Black leather?" I raised an eyebrow. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Mokuba looked at the pants and then at me, "At least I didn't grab your favorites."

"Why not?"

"I figured the buckles might freak you out."

"My favorite _leather_ pants have _buckles_?"

"Mmhmm," Unconcerned at my reaction, Mokuba was already busily rummaging through a rack of dress shirts.

"Don't I have any normal clothes? Blue jeans?" I fingered the hem of a shirt that probably cost more than most people would spend in a week on groceries. "Anything made out of cotton?"

"Blue jeans and cotton shirts? You're remembering things!"

"I know the basics," I said calmly, not wanting the kid to think I was on a direct trip back to regaining my memories, "Bigger things are eluding me."

Mokuba had selected a white linen shirt, but put it back. "Um, I think you have a t-shirt you bought last Halloween."

"I do Halloween?"

More rummaging, "Yeah sometimes. You bought the shirt for a costume."

I leaned against the wall, "Just what kind of costume requires a t-shirt for a costume?"

"Lots do!" Mokuba laughed, "But this one was different. You were gonna dress up like Joey. He always wears a cheap shirt under his school jacket."

"Who?"

"He's friends with Yugi…Ah, never mind right now. I don't want to give you a headache, and if anything will, it's Joey Wheeler."

_Wheeler, you overgrown puppy._ A sneering voice ripped through me,_ Why don't you go back to the pound where you belong? _

_Dumb mutt, why don't you watch where you're going?_

_You're a pathetic Chihuahua. I wouldn't duel you to save my life!_

Blinking back pain that came with the voice, I put a hand to my forehead. What the hell was _that_?

"Are you okay?"

The scared sounding voice snapped me back to the present. I looked down to see Mokuba looking up at me with wide, frightened eyes. I smiled, "Yeah, kid, I'm okay. I just got a little dizzy."

Wide eyes relaxed and the boy sighed, "Good, 'cause you had me worried. You sort of blanked out."

Debating on whether or not to tell Mokuba what I heard, I relented and told him. As I spoke, the boy seemed to lighten up and even laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"You always call Joey names like that," he wiped at his eyes. "You've never said if you meant it or not, but it's always funny to hear." He sobered up. "Maybe this means you're getting your memory back."

A little thrill coursed through me at the thought.

The sooner I get my memories back, the sooner I'm _me _again, the better.

It was strange that in a home as big as this one, that my room was so close to Mokuba's. The bedrooms were, as presumptuous as it sounds, in the East Wing of the building. I couldn't really call it a home since it was so huge. Mokuba had told me the manor had around thirty-four thousand square feet. Thirty four_ thousand_! It had twelve bedrooms, fifteen full bathrooms, nine half bathrooms, an outdoor heated pool, a detached and temperature controlled twelve car garage, a movie room, and two elevators.

Elevators. I had to shake my head at that one. It just seemed weird.

Even though Mokuba said I loved wearing leather pants, I held the kid back. Maybe the old me enjoyed wearing leather pants, but personally speaking, I wasn't so sure I wanted to try something that was that new to me. I kept the school uniform on, but only after reassuring Mokuba that I'd give the leather pants a try tomorrow.

After that, the kid took charge, just not of my dressing habits. Mokuba had given the staff the weekend off, beginning with tonight, then he took me on a grand tour of the manor. The west wing held a lot of the entertainment rooms and guest rooms. The center of the home had the elevators, great room (otherwise known in smaller homes as living rooms), kitchen area, dining room, and even a ballroom though I doubt a ball or party had ever been held there. It just held the same empty feeling as many of the rooms did.

The manor only had two levels, but Mokuba told me there was a basement and two sub-basement levels. The basement had several different rooms. One had laundry facilities in it that did normal laundering all the way to tailoring and dry cleaning. The other rooms had the systems that monitored the security for the manor and its grounds, another held electronic equipment for heating and cooling, computers, and the electronic breaker system. Another room was dedicated to wine bottles.

The first sub-basement had seven different rooms. Mokuba told me that each of the first five rooms held several copies of every Duel Monster card ever made. Each room represented a star level, and try as he could, Mokuba still confused me with star levels. He told me that the sixth and seventh rooms varied in the copies of cards within, as some were rare indeed.

The second sub-basement had tight security. By tight security, I mean retinal scanners, fingerprint scanners, and even full body scanners. Only myself, Mokuba, and a select few from Kaiba Corp had access to this level. I soon found out that it held a large room that seemed to be two stories tall (or deep), and an observation room that overlooked this room. Mokuba told me it was a private dueling arena. Apparently the old me had a huge fondness for Duel Monsters.

"That's about it," he said once we'd left the basement. He looked around the foyer as if looking at it for the first time. "I never really thought about all that we live in. I was so young when we first got here."

"Did our parents win the lottery or something?"

It was an innocent question, but Mokuba once again went pale. He recovered quicker this time and looked up at me and sighed. "I guess you need to be told," he laughed a little but it sounded forced, "I just never thought _I'd_ have to be the one to tell _you_."

It was a little shocking to find out that our parents had died while we were at a young age. That we were dumped into an orphanage and then adopted by a reclusive millionaire only after I'd won a chess game against him. Mokuba had showed me the chess board I'd won on. It was in the Great Room just beyond the foyer, enclosed in a glass dome and set on an antique looking pedestal table, with its pieces in the final winning position, a move frozen in time.

"It was recreated," Mokuba said with a wry smile, "since Gozaburo had swiped the pieces from the table when he realized you beat him." He looked up at me, "You saved us and for that I will never be anything less than loyal to you. Some might think it's strange but I owe you so much." He hugged me then, a tight hug that forced me to crouch down closer to him.

Pain flared through me, though not as badly as it could have been. I'd taken pain medicine before leaving the hospital. Still, I hissed involuntarily at the pain. Mokuba released me instantly and looked up at me sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I said after catching my breath. "If I could, I'd hug you just as tightly. Such loyalty from my brother. I hope I'm worthy of such high praise."

His eyes shone with suppressed tears. "You had so many people who wanted to adopt you, but not me. You wouldn't go with anyone that wouldn't take me as well."

The force of his emotions hit me and I knew instinctively that I felt the same. Even if it hadn't, I wouldn't question the deep love I felt for Mokuba…for my brother. It was evident to me that it would be impossible to feel anything but love for this kid.

Even after Mokuba went to bed, I stayed up. I did so hoping that a quiet lone walk around the manor might jog some memory, maybe open some locked door to my past. Unfortunately it had been a disappointing experiment. None of the rooms I visited brought back any sort of memory. I'd even sat next to the chess set and stared at it and not a single memory flickered for me. All I noticed was a tiny smudge of a fingerprint on the top of the glass case. I wiped at it and made the smudge worse.

A deep reverberating gong sounded around me and it startled me into searching for it. I found it just as the last peal rang. It was a grandfather clock that sat in a corner of the great room…ah hell, I'm calling it a living room. In the _living room_, the clock had rung for the midnight hour and I figured I should get some sleep.

Low level lighting had just about every room glowing amber and I wondered if I should turn it off all the lights. As I walked up the stairs, I noticed that one by one, from what I could see, the lights turned themselves off. I took a breath and chalked it up to just one more highly technological thing in the Kaiba manor. I padded up the stairs, running my hand along the smooth wooden railing as I did. I paused at the top to look back at the darkened lower floor, then walked down the wide hallway towards my room.

Mokuba had apparently anticipated my late night exploring, for when I opened one of the double bedroom doors, I found that a bedside lamp on either side of the bed was on, as well as a light in the bathroom. I sat on the bed to take off my shoes (I'd been too overwhelmed earlier to exchange them for house shoes) and socks and for a moment I just enjoyed flexing my toes.

In the darkness of the room, I noticed something I hadn't seen earlier. There was an alarm clock on the left nightstand and green digital numbers glowed on the clock face. It was ten after midnight. I got up and crossed the room to go to the bathroom. The wooden floor was silent, and when I walked on the rug, my bare feet sank into its plush threads.

The bathroom was shaped like an upside down L and while it seemed huge at first, I saw it wasn't really too large. I found the floor to be marble and cool to the touch. For a second, I stared stupidly at the opulence before me.

There was a deep marble tub in the far left corner that looked as if it could fit four people easily. A large walk-in shower was right around the corner (I'd mistaken it initially for an empty room), and as I stood at the bathroom doorway, to my left was the toilet and a marble topped counter that held two sinks.

To my right was a dressing area, and there Mokuba had left out a large fluffy white towel, as well as clean underwear and a pair of blue silk sleeping pants. I flushed at the sight since I hadn't even given clean clothes, much less underwear, a second thought. The hunt for something to ring a proverbial bell had driven away basic needs. Very basic needs.

After I used the toilet, I washed my hands (I tried to be careful of the gauze wrapped around my wrist, but it got wet anyway) and gasped as I had my first encounter with Seto Kaiba. As I dried my hands on a hand towel, I shut my gaping mouth and stared at the mirror. The young man reflected back was admittedly handsome and had short brunette hair that had lighter and darker shades that shimmered under the light, despite the fact that the strands were undoubtedly dirty.

There were bangs that were being held back by a white strip of gauze that wrapped around his head. The gauze held a bandage at the left side of the head. I knew from prior, post awakening, experience that the bangs hovered directly in the line of vision.

Then there were the eyes themselves. Saying the color was just blue was an understatement. The color was a deep, electric shade of blue. Almost sapphire blue. The unlined face was only slightly tanned, yet the skin wasn't that of someone who went outdoors a great deal.

After deciding to take a shower instead of a bath, I carefully took off my shirt. Luckily it was a button up shirt. I'd taken off the school jacket hours ago. Even with my careful moves, I still felt a dull ache run through me. Yet after seeing my body, I could see why the doctor was so impressed with my lack of serious injuries.

The body was one that was kept in peak physical condition. Muscular shoulders, though bruised, tapered to a narrow waist and flat stomach. The bandages that wrapped my torso, and the ones around my head and wrist, would be getting very wet. Doctor Mueller had said it would be okay to take a shower. I'd just need to get Mokuba to help me with reapplying them.

Once the water was at a comfortable temperature, I stripped from the rest of my clothes and walked stiffly into the shower. I looked up as I showered and saw the night sky from a wide skylight above me. The sight of brilliant white stars against the velvet black background was breathtaking.

Carefully, I avoided wetting my head and grimaced a little when I soaked the rest of the body bandages. My wrist was also beginning to ache. Though I desperately wanted to wash my hair, I didn't dare to deal with those bandages. Instead I carefully soaped my body, taking note of the various aches and pains. A handful of black and blue marks that peppered my left side that weren't under wraps were already turning yellow and green. I hoped that they'd fade soon.

Turning off the water, I walked over to get my towel. I hadn't grabbed it earlier, so I trailed water over the marble flooring. I dried off quickly and dressed carefully. The hot water had left me a little light headed, and though I felt like I should dry the floor, I couldn't very well get down and dry it. Instead I dropped the towel on the floor and let it soak up the water.

After brushing my teeth, I draped the bath towel over the edge of the tub and left the bathroom. I grabbed the prescription bottle and, grateful that it was an easy opening lid, took out two of the pills. The ache in my hand was starting to migrate towards my head. After going back to the bathroom to chase the two pills down with some water, I left the bathroom, turning the lights off as I did. I walked into my bedroom and sighed tiredly.

Despite the warm welcome by Mokuba, this whole home felt like the home of a stranger. Even the simple act of sitting on the edge of the bed made me felt like an intruder.

_I don't know what to do. Where do I even **begin**?_ I dropped my elbows on my knees and rested my head in my hands. I fingered my hair, feeling the silken strands under the grime of sweat._ It's one thing to have amnesia and to fool maids and butlers, but it's going to be another thing entirely to fool classmates and teachers. _I sighed deeply._ It'll be impossible to fool stockholders and employees. _

_I can't just sit back and let this get to me. I'll have to find out everything about Seto Kaiba that I can. He's so high profile that there must be film footage of him. Maybe a conference or newscast. Until the memories return, I can at least mimic him. _ I shuddered at the thought of press conferences, then stood up and rolled back the sheets. Climbing into the king sized bed, I felt it mold to my body. I turned off the bedside lamp, then groaned when I realized there was a second one on the other side that was still on.

To turn that one off, I'd either have to slide across the wide bed or get out of bed and walk around to it. I didn't feel like fighting against the sheets, so I got out of bed and walked around it. I reached down to turn it off and suddenly the room was cast in a blue glow from outside. I walked over to the windows and drew back one of the curtains. A full moon which, which had provided the blue glow, hovered low in the night sky, and a few wispy clouds moved lazily across the sky.

Far below, water danced around the dragon statue. Low power lights illuminated it with white light from below and the light gave the marble a pearlescent hue. It was getting stuffy in the room and I studied the window, unlocked the latch, and pulled up the sash.

Cool night air flowed into the room, along with the sound of crickets and the gentle chime of falling water. I looked down at the dragon and glared at it, crazily willing it to tell me who I am. All I managed to do was start up a little headache. With a resigned sigh, I padded back to bed, climbed in, and tried to get to sleep.

The last thing I saw was a laptop computer resting on a desk on the far side of the room.

* * *

Jeeze, so what next? Breakfast, of course.

Yeah I took a lot of artistic liberties with describing the mansion and its grounds. If anyone has any pictures of it or descriptions drastically different than how I described it, please let me know. I like making things as true to form as possible. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 3

**a beautiful oblivion  
Chapter Three: The Life Left Behind **

**My stomach turns and I exhale**

* * *

Last night had not been restful at all. I'd painfully tossed and turned, and despite how comfortable the bed was, I couldn't get comfortable. Every little noise had resonated through me and made me wary, while throbbing pain from moving had kept me awake. The green glow from the digital clock mocked me by slowly changing the time from minute to minute in increments that felt more like hour to hour. To make matters worse, I could not get rid of an image of Seto Kaiba standing outside and pounding on the front doors, demanding to be let in and to destroy the outsider that was trespassing so blatantly on his territory.

To put it simply, I couldn't help feeling like an impostor.

Sunlight streaming through the three arched windows woke me. I squinted at the brightness and went to pull the blankets up over my face, when I saw the time on the digital clock. It was eleven-thirty.

I shot up in bed, sitting up ramrod straight, and panic – along with shooting stabs of pain from my bruises, wrist, and head – flared through me. What time was my MRI set for? I could swear it had been at nine today. Then again, it could be for next week…of course, for the time being my memory wasn't all that hot. Calming quickly, I realized that panicking wasn't the thing to do. Even if I was late, I knew it had to get done. They couldn't deny me. Could they?

Sliding out from the bed, I noticed something on the nightstand. It looked like a necklace of sorts. A long leather cord was coiled on the left nightstand table. Attached to that was what looked like one of the duel cards Mokuba had showed me yesterday. The reddish brown backing had a strange design on it, something that almost looked like some sort of a vortex. It almost seemed to spin and a tiny voice flashed through me.

"_So no matter what, we'll always be together, even if we're apart." _

Just as suddenly as the voice rang through me, it vanished, leaving an echo of the last word. My head ached and I squeezed my eyes shut, unsure if I was trying to will the voice away or to bring it back. It had to have been a memory, but I didn't know what of. I opened my eyes and looked at the necklace. It hadn't been there last night. At least, I don't think it was. Maybe Mokuba had snuck it in earlier this morning.

But shouldn't he have woken me up if I had someplace to be? I shoved that thought away and walked quickly to the bathroom, ignoring the slight dizziness that had accompanied getting up so fast. The doctor had warned me that there would be off and on dizziness for the first few days.

More sunlight streamed into the bathroom windows, and it somehow looked bigger with all the natural light coming in through the windows. The bathroom was extremely bright from the sunlight reflecting off of the off-white hue of the stone tiles all around me. Luckily, my eyes adjusted quickly.

The floor was cool to my bare feet, and after using the toilet and washing my hands, I splashed some water on my face. I could ignore the throbbing ache from my wrist, but not the stinging at my left temple. I pushed away mahogany strands of hair to see a slight abrasion hiding under the hair. I could just barely see the cause of my aching head

Standing back, I realized that if it hadn't been for the bandage wrapped around my head like a sweatband, I'd look perfectly normal. The wrist and its bandages weren't all that disturbing. The bandages swathing my torso were obviously not an issue. Ducking my head to the side, I tried to see the bandage that covered what I'd come to think of as the impact zone. I could see that a little blood had seeped through, but all in all it looked alright.

After brushing my teeth, I took a painkiller and went to get dressed. On entering the walk-in closet, I was surprised to find that an outfit had already been selected for me.

Sitting on a leather chair that was positioned near a window was a pair of black pants (not leather, what a relief), a black t-shirt, and tall black leather boots to complete the outfit. I wasn't sure what the fetish was with wearing all black, but I didn't want to think about looking for anything else. Anyway, Mokuba would be the one to know what his brother would wear, especially if his brother couldn't put a finger on a single thought.

After dressing, I looked through the closet, thinking I might find a hat, maybe even a baseball cap, to wear to hide the bandage that wrapped around my head. It promptly became evident that Seto Kaiba did not hide behind hats of any sort. Pausing by the window to look out for a moment, I found that the closet was situated on the side of the manor that looked out at the side lawn.

With a sigh, I sat on the leather chair to carefully pull on the boots. As I bent to pull them on, I felt the soreness from my ribs ache in sync with my wrist, but I wasn't about to call Mokuba to help me. There were no zippers to mar the butter soft leather.

Instead, there were laces that snaked up the front and even a few decorative buckles to boot…no pun intended. I hadn't seen any designer label, which meant they had to be custom made for me, and when I stood up I felt a degree of satisfaction at how good I felt wearing the boots. I'd thought I would feel like an idiot wearing boots that went almost to the knees, but instead I felt sure of myself…even a bit powerful. I wasn't sure if I should tuck the pants in to the boots or let them cover them, and chose the latter.

After studying my reflection in a full-length mirror, I heard my stomach growling. The sound reminded me that not only had I missed breakfast, but that I would miss lunch if I didn't get my ass downstairs. Before leaving the bedroom, I went and put on the strange necklace that was on my beside nightstand. The card pendant came to rest mid-chest and its placement felt very familiar. I left the bedroom, not bothering to close the bedroom doors behind me.

I descended the stairs almost soundlessly; my boots made a soft thudding sound as I walked down the stairs. I didn't remember where the kitchen was, but there was a stream of scents, which hadn't reached my bedroom, that easily led the way. It smelled like a mix of bacon and eggs and toast. I made it to the kitchen faster than I expected. It seemed that my innate sense of direction wasn't harmed by amnesia. I was surprised to see Mokuba placing a platter of pancakes on a midsized table that already had about ten other platters of food.

_I seriously hope he doesn't think I'm going to eat this all on my own because I don't think I can and…_

I didn't get time to finish that thought because Mokuba realized that I was there.

"Big brother!" He was suddenly hugging me, and I got the feeling that he was hugging me as if to make sure I was really there.

_Oh, the pain…_ I hugged him back despite the slightly shooting pain from the hug. "Morning yourself, kid."

He looked up at me, tilting his head to the side, "You found it."

"Huh?"

"The locket," he pointed to the necklace.

I held it, feeling surprised, "It's a locket?"

"Yeah," He grabbed it and pried it open. He showed it to me, and I was surprised to see a picture of two young boys. They both looked a little shabby, a little grubby, but the love was there.

"That's…us?"

"Uh-huh, at the orphanage," Mokuba let go of the locket and turned back to the table. I noticed the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up and he had his long hair tied back. "It was the best picture they could take of us."

I raised an eyebrow, "The best?"

Mokuba flushed a little, "I kept making faces. You told me to smile nicely or my face would freeze that way."

"If that's not the oldest trick in the book, then I don't know what is," I said dryly.

Maybe too dryly. Mokuba's eyes widened and I felt ill. "What? I didn't mean to be rude."

"N…no, you weren't," Mokuba brightened, "It's just that for a second, you sounded like you always do. Like you normally do."

"I normally sound rude?"

"Not _all_ the time!" he laughed, and pulled at my hand. "Come and eat. I'll talk while you eat."

"What about you?"

"Nah, I already ate," Mokuba said, as he ushered me to a wooden chair. "Now it's your turn."

My vision was filled with platters, plates, and pitchers. Pancakes, bacon, hard boiled eggs, French toast, and bagels. Jelly, cream cheese, butter, and syrup. Orange juice, milk, water, and coffee.

"I'm not sure what I want to eat," I ventured, "Do I normally eat enough to feed a small country?"

Mokuba laughed again, and the happy sound made _me_ happy, "Just eat what you feel like eating. Nothing will go to waste. I'll give the leftovers to Mariana's family. She's the head maid here and lives nearby. She's got a couple of kids my age and I know she'll be glad to have the leftovers."

"Leftovers for the head maid?" The comment disturbed me. "Don't we pay her enough?"

He waved my fears away, "Oh sure, but her two sons eat like it's the end of the world. They're always hungry." His grey eyes glittered with humor, "And don't worry about hurting my feelings if you don't want to eat a lot. I just thawed food that was pre-cooked."

Narrowing my eyes, I shook my head, "You could've tricked me into a guilt trip."

"I know," he said, and picked up a cranberry bagel, "But you've got enough to think about. I can guilt trip you later."

"That's reassuring," I filled a plate with bacon, eggs, and pancakes. "I'll make sure to remember that."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Hey!"

"I bet you couldn't even remember your own pin number."

"Which one?" Those two words and the joking tone came quickly, and I knew without needing to ask that the answer, as well as the prompting line, was a joke between the two of us.

Mokuba was staring at me with wide eyes. A knife smudged with jelly hovered over the bagel, "You remembered."

A fork full of scrambled eggs paused mid-way to my mouth. "It just came to me." I ate the eggs; chewed and swallowed. They were good eggs. "Do we always joke about pin numbers?"

Disappointment clouded his eyes, "Yeah. You think I waste money on games."

"I thought I liked games."

"_You_ like Duel Monsters," he corrected me, "_I_ like electronic games. Playstation, X-box…"

"I think you'd use your brain for either version of gaming," I shrugged, enjoying some bacon.

"That's what I keep trying to tell you," Mokuba grumbled, paused, then looked over at me with a wicked look. "You think we could develop some video games?"

"We do video games?"

Mokuba sagged in his chair, "Argh! You're impossible!"

After helping Mokuba clean up the kitchen and prepare the food to be taken by Mariana, I followed the kid back up the stairs. It seemed he felt it was necessary for me to be reintroduced to my company. The old me seemed to live and breathe Kaiba Corp, and I figured that was a good thing or else Mokuba and I would more than likely be living out on the streets.

Then again, two brothers living alone with no parents? We'd be snatched up by child services in a heartbeat.

So, off to work we go.

Instead of going to a home office, Mokuba led the way into my bedroom, which was a bit of a surprise. I followed him to one of the rooms off of the interior of my bedroom and found a home office worthy of being in any corporate office. It was not a large room, but it was well appointed. More of the same wood paneling covered the walls, ceiling, and floor. A large mahogany desk was placed against the far wall, facing the doorway, and an arched window was behind the desk. It matched the ones all over my bedroom suite.

A thin silver monitor sat on the desktop. Wires from the monitor snaked down a half-covered access opening that no doubt led to an equally impressive computer. A black leather chair with mahogany armrests and legs was behind the desk. It was positioned in a way that suggested the last user left in a hurry.

Bookcases lined the wall to the left of the desk, while an aquarium sat against the wall to the right of the desk. There was a large plasma tv hanging on the wall ahead of the desk. More electronic equipment rested on a metal stand under the television.

"No one's been in here since you left it last Tuesday evening," Mokuba said, and he walked behind the desk to touch the chair. He looked over at me and smiled slightly, "You'd been up just about all night to work on your latest dueling technology."

I was baffled, "Why all night?"

He shrugged, "That's what I always think." He blinked wide eyes and bit at his lower lip, "I mean, uh, well…You spend too much time here. I think, anyway."

"I'm beginning to think that, too," I muttered and walked over behind the desk as well. Mokuba walked over to the window and looked outside. The sun wasn't shining directly in, as it was nearing one in the afternoon, and he sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Promise you won't get mad?"

The honest and slightly nervous way he asked it tugged at me, "Sure, kid, I won't get mad."

"I used to have daydreams about what would happen if you weren't so into running Kaiba Corp. That maybe we could just go out and be brothers."

"Aren't we brothers already?"

"You used to say that if there could be a way to do thirty-six hours of work into a twenty-four hour day that you would," Mokuba admitted, "Sometimes I feel like you do anyway and that you forget about me."

"And now I have," I said with a sigh, "Look, I can't pretend like I remember saying or doing any of that, but I want to make up for it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I grinned, "Plus I need you to help me."

He crossed his arms, "How?"

"You know about this stuff. I can't remember enough of it to save my life." I waved around at the computer, "I need you to help me make sure no one finds out about my amnesia. If we can get my memories back as soon as possible, then just maybe things will be okay."

"Why wouldn't they be okay?"

"If the media gets wind of me having amnesia, what do you think could be the worst that could happen?"

"I don't know…" He trailed off, looking as if he knew the answer but was uncertain that he wanted to say it.

"I remember just about zip when it comes to business matters, but what I do remember is instinctive," I said and quickly thought up of an analogy, "If one shark bleeds in the ocean, what will the other sharks do?"

His eyes widened with comprehension. He knew that I knew that he knew the answer. "They'll eat it up."

"Exactly."

"They could buy out Kaiba Corp."

"And we'd be…"

"Up a creek without a paddle," Mokuba looked at me with a soulful look. "We can't let that happen."

"I hate to make you shoulder this, Mokuba, but it's the only way." I looked over at him. "Until I get my memories back, you're the head of Kaiba Corp."

He laughed weakly, "Good thing you always nagged me to watch you. I know at least as much as you do."

"Are you saying that I'm a nag?"

"No!" He rolled his eyes, "I'm saying you were a good teacher." He sighed and looked serious and suddenly older than his years, "And now I have to teach the teacher."

* * *

"Oh you can't possibly be serious." I groaned and slumped in the leather chair.

Beside me, Mokuba sighed patiently. "It's not that hard, big brother."

"It's impossible!" I sat up and pointed at the charts and tables on the computer screen. "Stocks and graphs and trading information and who runs what…It could all be over for us if I have to go before the board."

Mokuba frowned and looked through a pda he'd found in a briefcase that I'd taken with me that fateful day. "According to this, you have one next Wednesday with the board and…Uh oh…that was for _last _Wednesday."

My eyes widened, "What!"

"You missed a meeting."

"No one called about it?" My thoughts flew wildly, "This could be disastrous."

"No, someone did call," Mokuba said quickly and looked guilty, "Nina, the secretary at the board room, she did call and Roland gave me the message. I was just so worried about you that I ignored it."

"What was the meeting about?"

Frantically, Mokuba looked at the pda, then sighed, "It was about a conference in Los Angeles. It wasn't anything important, just stuff about a possible convention there next month. Whether you'd show up at it or just send a representative from the company."

Mokuba had told me what Kaiba Corp had done under Gozaburo and what it had become under my rule. I was happier with the thought of gaming rather than warfare.

"That's a relief," I sighed, "Are there any more meetings?"

Mokuba penned through the handheld and shook his head. "No, none until…er…next Thursday. This one looks important. It's about the lesser shareholders and our stock in the London area."

With a sigh, I leaned back and looked at the clock on the computer. It was nearing six pm. "Should we break for dinner?"

"You want to get away from all this stuff?"

"You sound surprised."

He shrugged, "Usually I have to pry you from this room." He looked around, "We could go get something to eat and watch tv in the great…er…living room."

"I'd like that," I said, as I stood up and stretched. I sat down almost instantly. The action left me incredibly lightheaded.

"Seto!"

"I'm okay, kid," I winced, "I just got a little lightheaded."

It didn't seem to reassure Mokuba, but he nodded. "Let's go."

I followed.

* * *

It should go down in the annals of history that ramen is some of the greatest food known to mankind.

Mokuba had chosen our meal of choice and called Roland to drive out for it. The man had been a bit surprised about the request, but a stern word from my brother had changed his mind. I don't think either of them took it seriously, as there was a joking tone to Mokuba's voice, and that made me think that Roland was a second person I could trust. Maybe not as much as Mokuba, but perhaps someone I could trust.

He'd wanted to come in, but Mokuba had stopped him at the foyer area. He told the man that I was resting up in my room, when I was really watching from a side hallway that led to the living room. I'd wanted a glimpse at someone I knew, hoping that the sight might trigger some memory.

It had.

One glimpse of his steel grey hair had instantly dragged me into a memory. The wall behind Roland transformed into a night sky flashing with lightning. I heard a snarling, growling noise and turned around in my memory. I saw a huge red creature hovering in the sky. It looked like a huge snake with a dragon's head, and its body was a mass of sinuous coils. Ruby red scales were as clearly defined as its double mouthed head.

_Slifer…_

Almost as quickly, the memory had fled from me, and Mokuba had been standing in front of me. Roland had been there by Mokuba's side, and his eyes showed his concern for me. He'd asked if I was okay, and fear had coursed through me.

I'd snapped out that I was fine, and my tone had held the anger I felt at losing the memory I was so close to grasping. I'd stalked from the hallway as steadily as I could. Truth be told, it hadn't been very steady for me, though it must've looked fine to the others. Dizziness had just about overwhelmed me, and all I'd wanted to do was sit down.

Showing weakness had seemed repulsive to me, and after sitting on a plush leather sofa, I gradually relaxed. Mokuba had come in not long after that with the take-out bag in his hands. Roland had shown himself out, and the security system was in lockdown mode as soon as the man drove from the gates to the main road.

Looking back, I realized that the emotions I felt in the memory hadn't been fear of the large snake-like creature. It had been exhilaration and anticipation. I'd _wanted _to see that creature.

The tv in the living room was a sixty-two inch high definition plasma tv. It hung on the wall and was as thin as a painting. When it wasn't on, there was a screensaver of a painting on it that was so lifelike I'd wanted to touch it to see if it was textured. There was a movie on now, but I wasn't paying too much attention to it.

"Mokuba?"

He slurped the last of his ramen, "Yeah."

"…Who is Slifer?"

It was a good thing his ramen container was a) Styrofoam and b) empty, because he dropped it onto the Oriental rug that covered the hardwood floor.

He regarded me with wide, shocked grey eyes, "Slifer! You remember Slifer but not me!"

"What is it?"

"Slifer is one of the Egyptian God Cards!" He picked the container off of the rug, "Figures you'd remember that monster before your own brother."

"Is this a guilt trip?"

Mokuba cracked a smile, "Yeah, you bet it is and it's just beginning." He sighed and picked up the remote, "I remember the duel you're talking about though. But I can't just _tell_ you who Slifer is. It'll be easier to show you."

To my amazement, the remote had accessed what Mokuba told me to be an entertainment storage system that _I _had designed and patented. The television, actually all of the tv's in the manor, were wirelessly hooked up to a central computer that held movies, television shows, and every recorded duel hosted by Kaiba Corp.

"Uh…here we go," Mokuba sat back, close to me, and turned up the volume. Sound flared around us, due to the surround sound speakers that were recessed in the woodwork. The air conditioning made the temperature in the room drop to match the conditions on the screen. There was a slight breeze, though it was obvious that it didn't match the whipping going on with that duel.

"This duel was fought at night on top of a blimp," Mokuba explained. "It was part of the Battle City tournament that you hosted. It's between Yugi and Bakura. Bakura has the long white hair and Yugi has the tri-colored hair. Don't ask why it's tri-colored, just watch the duel."

Well that shut me up. I _had_ been about to ask why anyone would have tri-colored hair.

Shadow Realm, God Cards, Ancient Egypt…it was a lot to take in. The various camera angles had provided a lot of footage. The microphones were superb and picked up just about everything spoken. The thing that had disturbed me the most was how unemotional and cold Seto Kaiba looked. I couldn't say how unemotional and cold I looked, because the way that guy looked was not how I felt now.

Every now and then, he would make a biting comment at Yugi. I doubt he was trying to be as encouraging as Yuig's friends on the other side of the raised platform, but there was something deep inside me that made me feel that he didn't want Yugi to just give up.

He wanted to battle Yugi. More than that, he wanted to_ destroy _Yugi.

My head had started to pound gently as I watched the duel, but I couldn't stop watching. It lasted almost an hour before the final move was played. Yugi emerged the winner and Seto Kaiba watched him with cold, dead eyes.

When Mokuba turned off the television, I felt a coldness that went bone deep. "That…_that's_ how I look to people?"

Mokuba was silent for a moment and then nodded.

"Why?"

"I…I don't know for sure," he looked uncomfortable. "I think that's something only you really know."

"And now I don't," I rubbed at my right temple. Luckily my headache was leaving. "I hate this."

"Me too."

"Have I ever asked you for anything?"

Mokuba looked at me and the surprise in his eyes answered it for me. "Well…"

"I haven't, have I?" I sighed, "I must be a real arrogant bastard."

"NO!" The harshness in Mokuba's voice was matched by the loyalty he obviously felt towards his brother. To me. "You're not a bastard. You can be arrogant, and maybe a bit of a jerk, but that's only so you can protect us!"

"So if I actually showed emotions that weren't on the dark side then we'd be screwed?"

"Probably," Mokuba smiled encouragingly, "But it's also how we were brought up. Gozaburo was a monster to you. You protected me from him. I have to be honest, Seto, I don't even know half of what went on between you two."

Frowning slightly, I shook my head, "I don't think I want to know anything about him. If I remember about him, then I remember, but I have a feeling that's a stone best left unturned."

We brought our empty containers and silverware (and I _do_ mean silver) to the kitchen. I washed the silverware, while Mokuba put the containers in the trashcan and then sat at the table behind me.

"What did you want?" Mokuba asked, "You know, earlier."

I rinsed the final spoon and turned to face him. I wiped the spoon dry and put it away. "Can you wash my hair for me?"

* * *

Needless to say, it had to have been the oddest request that Seto Kaiba had ever made of his brother. Mokuba had also been recruited to change the bandage on the side of his brother's head. That was because I couldn't see the area affected, so I couldn't put on any of the healing ointment or anything.

But the feel of clean hair…it was just about heavenly.

After recovering from my question, which had left him looking shocked and amused, Mokuba had carefully washed my hair in one of the sinks in my bathroom. After the final rinse, he'd blotted the moisture from the hair and then gotten the ointment from the care bag the hospital had sent home with us. Once my hair was dry, he took off the bandaging to inspect my injury, then he started to put on the healing ointment. Even as carefully as he applied it, it still stung.

"What's it look like up there?"

Mokuba laughed, "Ah…well they had to shave some hair off, but there's enough left to cover up the injury until the hair grows back."

"That takes a lot off my mind," I said the words jokingly, but deep down I felt like the words rang more truth than jest. "Are there stitches or anything? Or is there just a huge gaping wound?"

"Uh, there are stitches, but the cut itself is only about an inch long," he paused as he reapplied a fresh gauze pad, "There's a little bleeding between the stitches, but not a lot. By the time you have to go back to school, you could probably go without any bandages at all."

_Only what if I don't **want** to go back to high school? Why do I even have to, if I'm running my own company? _I watched Mokuba wrap gauze around my head. He tied it in a headband fashion like the hospital staff had done. I stared at my reflection. _Even to **me** I look lost. Forget about people at school, how am I supposed to deal with people I know at work? There's no way I'll be able to keep this from people._

If I'm not careful, the whole world will know that Seto Kaiba has amnesia and if people find out, I have no doubt that Seto Kaiba's world will come crashing down.

"Mokuba?"

"Mmhmm?" He had put the ointment away and was wrapping up the unused gauze.

"You think I can get through this?"

He paused for a second, then put the wrapped gauze into the care bag. "I know you can.

"You sound so sure."

"And _you_ don't. That's unacceptable." His words surprised me and I looked over at him. His grey eyes shone with intensity. "You'll be ready. It's only Saturday and it's not even one in the afternoon. You've got more than enough time to figure things out."

"I don't even know where to start."

"I do," he said and walked out of the bathroom, "Come on. I guess you're gonna need a crash course in Seto Kaiba 101."

Wincing a little, I followed him. "Can you please _not_ use the word crash?"

* * *

That was kind of a little long of a chapter, wasn't it? It's at least eleven pages if you print it out, depending on your computer settings. By the way, what do you think of the story so far? Is it realistic enough or a little campy?

I must apologize in regards to the mentioned duel between Yugi and Bakura. I haven't seen it in a long time, so I hope the words were good in translating what I saw in my own mind for that memory scene of Seto's. And as far as Roland and his physical description goes...that's from my faulty memory as well! My apologies if the poor overworked guy wasn't described right!

Also, I promise that I haven't forgotten about Yugi and co. The duel mentioned in this chapter won't be the only appearance they're making! They will be making appearances, and the media will be making appearances, and so will some supernatural fuddy duddies. Yeah, Bakura, I'm talking about you _and_ the Ra-be-damned-Pharaoh. Heh, heh…awwwwwyeah...

A big shout out of THANK YOU SO MUCH! to all of the people who have reviewed so far I don't know what policy is of thanking reviewers in note sections, but I'm taking the time to say thank you to AnimeNymph, Yami-AJ Yu-Yu-InuCaptor, T.L. Maraudett, Intoxicated Biscuit, Silver Fantasy, AcheronP, Psycho Demon-Witch, Jean-Luc Lover, Maat's Feather, and X-parrot! Your kind and helpful reviews have definitely encouraged me.

Always yours,  
Mira


	5. Chapter 4

a beautiful oblivion  
by **yami no mira**

**Chapter Four - the lack thereof **

* * *

Many hours later, I was chock full of information I wasn't sure I wanted to know and I hadn't even scraped the tip of the proverbial iceberg that was Seto Kaiba. I knew that I was looking at my own life with new eyes, but to see what I saw was a little disturbing. The chilly intensity to Seto Kaiba's eyes kept people around him at a safe distance from him. The standoffish air around him that exuded confidence to others, seemed to me to be more like a façade for some sort of insecurity he felt deep inside.

Way, _way_ deep inside.

I was confronted by him in some dark alley, I'd do my best not to piss him off. Hiding behind a dumpster? It was an option that wouldn't be out of the question.

Time wise, it was also, yet again, late at night. Perhaps eleven thirty wasn't all that late to my body, but to me it was. So what could I do when my mind was tired but my body wasn't? I wasn't sure either. Two hours ago, Mokuba had fallen asleep on the long leather sofa while I was deep into my visual study of Seto Kaiba, and he was still asleep even now.

At first, Mokuba had been wide awake, pointing out mannerisms (which were usually extremely curt) or physical attributes (which were defensive at best), but as the minutes passed he relaxed to the point of no return. The sleep that threatened him eventually took him under and he'd slumped against me, fully asleep. I had carefully laid him out on the sofa and covered him with a thin, fuzzy blanket. He hadn't woken as I covered him with the blanket and I continued my scan. I was hypnotized by the variety of recordings: duels, board room meetings, conventions that Seto had (some reluctantly and some not) attended, and most importantly, the news reports.

The news reports were the most fascinating when camera crews caught Seto unaware. One in particular got my attention. He'd been walking out of the main Kaiba Corp building towards a waiting limousine, wearing a white suit, when the camera crew filmed him. The reporter had been asking about some past duel and for a millisecond Seto looked startled. Trust me, you'd have to freeze frame the shot to even have seen it. Yeah, that's what I'd done. I stared at that for a moment before letting the scene continue.

What I learned about Seto Kaiba from these clips was that he was very much a professional when it came to dealing with the media.

"_Mr. Kaiba, is it true that you are going to be hosting yet **another** tournament in the near future?"_

An icy cold stare frosted over Kaiba's blue gaze, _"If you had taken the time to schedule an appointment, I may have answered you. For now I believe saying 'no comment' will have to suffice. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a previously scheduled meeting to get to."_

That clip had ended soon after that and another began to play, but something in the prior clip bothered me. A tournament in the _near_ future. Could it have been possible? The date on that particular clip was from four months ago. I'd have to ask Mokuba if there had been or was going to be another tournament.

A pity I couldn't remember the preceding one.

At that point, it had only been four hours in to watching footage of Seto Kaiba's life and, as I'd said before, I hadn't even seen it all. Before the video study, Mokuba had tried to go over the rules of Duel Monsters. Something about it was very familiar, very much feeling like home, but my mind wasn't letting me grasp it. I knew I'd been a champion Duelist, but at that point, I couldn't have felt any less a champion. I knew that I'd been defeated by the kid with the weird hair, Yugi, but I still felt the term champion applied to myself as well as Yugi.

Picking up the remote, I flicked off the entertainment system and sighed. For a moment, I sat back in the leather of the sofa and just listened. The silence of the manor was so absolute that it left a ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes and picked out sounds below the ringing: Mokuba's steady breathing, the hum of the refrigerators (yeah, there are more than one) in the kitchen just beyond the slight hallway from the living room, and the sound of keys jingling from someplace in the manor.

Jingling keys?

The ringing in my ears vanished as I stood up and, for once, the movement wasn't accompanied by that familiar lightheaded sensation. I would've been thrilled at that accomplishment, but I had something else that concerned me. I looked down at Mokuba, who looked so young and worry free as he slept near his protective big brother. I narrowed my eyes as I recalled all that Mokuba had done for me so far. I had to protect him from anyone, or anything, that would try to harm him.

Including intruders that were trying to break in to the manor. So far as a successful break-in to the manor could be when one has keys to the doors.

_Only people who are supposed to be here will be allowed in._

Mokuba's voice echoed so clearly in my mind that I looked back down at him, half expecting him to be awake and looking at me with that slightly cocky half-grin of his, but he wasn't. He was still sound asleep. My wrist throbbed for a moment, breaking me out of my reverie. Squaring my shoulders, I walked from the great room and into the hallway that led towards the front of the manor. I would begin my search there.

The corridor that led to the foyer was dark, as it was lit only by electric wall sconces. For a second, I wondered why they weren't brighter. That it was odd that they were so low powered. I shrugged off that thought, even though it could've been a memory. I chuckled bitterly. The only memory that deemed itself worthy of coming back to me related to low level decorative lighting fixtures.

A cold breeze blew down the hallway and wrapped itself around my legs before leaving me. A few rust colored leaves bounced along down the hall, captive by the sharp breeze, until they became trapped at my feet. Slightly disgusted, I stepped free of them and watched them roll down the hallway, out of sight as they rounded the corner. Some breeze.

The wide foyer was ahead of me, just around another bend in the corridor, and I paused as I reached that bend.

The front doors were open. I could smell the night air drifting in around the bend, swirling the scent of autumn around my head, lifting the hair off of my forehead for a moment before tapering off. I could hear the last crickets of the season, singing their farewell to summer. The doors closed with the muffled thud only expensive doors could manage. I heard the clinking of keys being dropped onto the marble topped table in the foyer. The same table I'd banged my knee off of yesterday. I winced, rubbing at my knee. It wasn't as if I needed any more black and blue marks.

A dark sense of foreboding filled me, but I knew I had to swallow my fear. Whoever was in that foyer _had_ to be stopped. Common sense said there was a possibility that it could be a maid that hadn't been told not to come in by Mokuba or the head maid or butler, but I had a bigger feeling that it was a threat. That it was a person who had something dark in mind.

Looking around for a weapon, I grabbed a silver candlestick. I pulled the candle from it and left it on the table, and hefted the silver holder. It was heavy. It would do. Walking as softly as I could, as Mokuba and I had abandoned our shoes in – ironically enough – the front foyer, Iedged closer to the foyer.

My heart thudded in my ears, and my head began to echo with a slight pound, as I rounded the corner and faced the intruder. The candlestick was held in my right hand like a baseball bat, but I dropped it when I saw the intruder. The candlestick landed with a heavy clang and it rolled in wavering circles across the marble tiles. I didn't care that the tile it had fallen on was likely cracked. All I had eyes for was the person that was standing in the manor's front foyer.

Seto Kaiba did not look happy at all.

"You're trespassing."

His voice was dark and cold. I had half expected him to yell or shout, but he didn't. He didn't need to. The low, deadly tone conveyed far more than any amount of yelling or shouting could ever accomplish.

"I'm not trespassing," and I said it every bit as calmly as he did, though my tone lacked the darkness his held. "I _am_ you. We are one and the same."

"Liar! We are _nothing_ alike. I've been watching you, listening to you," he hung back in the foyer and his stance gave me the impression of someone who was both angry and confused. "You've been filling my brother's head with lies! If this is some trick of Yugi's, some illusion, I'll see the both of you sued so thoroughly that your descendants will feel it for centuries!"

I wanted to laugh. He reminded me of a wet cat, cornered and miserable, hissing to keep people away from it and its territory. Instead I felt myself trembling slightly. Ripples of malice rolled from Seto Kaiba in almost visible waves. I wasn't scared, but it was more than a little shock to see yourself glaring at…yourself.

"I wish it was all a trick," I said, still trying to maintain that calm tone, yet still feeling the blood draining from my face. "If it was all a trick, then I could end it, but it's not! I don't know how you and I are here at the same time, in the same place, but we are."

"Enough!" He did yell this time and it echoed around me. "I don't know who put you up to this, or where someone could find a person who looks exactly like me, but I want you out of my home!" He moved closer and each step held the steady, deadly grace of a big cat. My earlier impression of Seto as a cornered cat vanished. "As a matter of fact, you're going to leave. Now."

He rushed at me then, leaping at me with a fiercely angry cry, and I had an obscure thought that he must be a martial arts expert right before he…

"Big brother? Are you okay? Seto?" Mokuba's worried voice pulled at me and the urgency to his tone snapped me to consciousness. I slowly blinked open my eyes and saw him sitting next to me with an expression on his face that made him look as worried as he sounded. "Seto, are you okay?"

For a second, I remembered what had happened between me and Seto Kaiba, but with each blink and with each second that I woke more, the dream faded. And soon, as it was with ultra realistic dreams, it faded to the point where it felt more like something I'd seen on television. Even as my rapidly thudding heart slowed to something more normal, invisible – almost electric – tingles still ran across my skin.

"Seto?"

_You're **trespassing**…_

I dropped my face into my hands and rubbed at my eyes, wincing when my wrist reminded me it was still very much bruised. "I'm okay."

"You don't sound it," he said dubiously.

I didn't sit up and, as such, my voice was slightly muffled, "Really?"

"Yeah," he said, and I felt him slide off the sofa. He tugged at my shoulder, stopping when I tensed my body at the pain from my ribs and the other bruises along that side of my body. Funny how I hadn't felt that pain in my dream. How had I not noticed that?

Mokuba stepped back, "You need to get some sleep, nii-sama. You'll feel better in the morning."

Nii-sama. A term of endearment for a big brother. I squeezed my eyes shut. _Why are all of these fragments coming back to me? Why remember a term and not the one it refers to? I can't stand this._

Somehow I seriously doubted that I'd feel better in the morning. I would only have this one week to try to get back my memories. If I didn't...I wasn't sure I wanted to know what would happen if I didn't.

But if I did…who would I end up being? Would I be that person I met in my dream? Would I be that cold, harsh person? That person who only showed any considerate emotion at all towards his little brother?

Begrudging loving emotion, at that. Kaiba reminded me, not of a cat, but something else. That dragon in the card, the one that was made into a fountain. That is what Kaiba reminded me of. Cold, harsh, and dangerous on the outside, protecting his brother and his company at any cost, yet on the inside a cold protectiveness burned with a fire of love for his brother. The only family he had.

I opened my eyes and forced them to not widen at the horror I felt deep inside. I wasn't describing some celebrity or some stranger. I was talking about _myself_. With a sigh of resignation, I allowed Mokuba to lead me out of the living room and into the hallway.

A little quirk of trepidation coursed through me. This hallway was almost identical to the one in my dream, though the electric wall sconces held more powerful lighting. Yet as we neared the bend that led to the foyer, I saw the silver candlestick holder.

More than a bit cowardly, I allowed Mokuba to take the lead as we rounded that corner. Though the foyer was empty, save for our shoes and the marble topped table, I could not help but clearly see Seto Kaiba standing by the closed double doors. His arms were crossed over his chest and his electric blue eyes were narrowed, clearly sending silent death threats at me. But Mokuba could not see what I saw, people that weren't really there, and he tugged at my hands, pulling me upstairs.

The lights faded behind us, as they had that first night I'd walked around the manor, and a part of me was glad that they did turn themselves off. That way Mokuba would not have to go back down to the huge, empty first floor to turn off the lights, while his big brother was in his own room, trembling at the confrontation between body and self.

* * *

The next morning dawned brightly and, thanks to a little luck and a late night, I woke before Mokuba did. I had no dreams, which surprised me with the dream I had in the living room, and I was grateful for that. I hadn't thought about it till now, but I didn't _want_ to face Kaiba again. I would call _him_ Kaiba and think of myself as Seto. Baby steps, I guess, but maybe it would help me remember my past sooner.

Shunning the leather pants, I had gone through the walk-in closet in search for clothes that could be considered both comfortable and low key. Leather pants aren't exactly low key, and leather pants with buckles ran more along the lines of screaming "**LOOK AT ME**!" than I was currently comfortable with. Maybe later.

Maybe a _lot_ later.

It surprised me that I actually found clothing that was not as eccentric as the rest of the clothing in the room. There was a row of pants and shirts in the very back of the closet and probably forgotten about by Kaiba. I passed up on khaki pants and chose a black pair of casual pants and a white loose fitting button down shirt.

Just about sixty percent of the clothes in Kaiba's closet ranged between exquisitely tailored, and doubtlessly sinfully expensive business apparel, and what might be considered dress down clothes for the rich and famous. The boots had been left in the front foyer and I'd be leaving them there until I absolutely needed to wear them. I pulled on a pair of white socks and walked out of my room.

After checking in on Mokuba, I was unsurprised to find him sound asleep. He'd had a late night last night, because even though he'd fallen asleep as I was watching those recordings, I had heard him moving around a while after he led me up to my room. Besides, it was only 8:30 in the morning, and I was glad that he was asleep. It meant I could make him breakfast.

This time I did go down the stairs silently, and though Mokuba wasn't there to provide me with a trail of scents to lead me to the kitchen, my body seemed to know the way on its own. I wondered if Kaiba had chefs to cook the meals or if the Kaiba brothers cooked their own food.

The foyer was where I paused at. There was no ghostly form of Kaiba to glare at me, but it had to have been my imagination that saw that the tall leather boots were knocked over onto their sides, and not standing straight up as I'd left them. Had to be.

Morning sunlight shone through the windows above and along side the front doors. The bright light warmed my legs where the sun touched them and I smiled a little. The warmth felt good and chased away the ghosts of last night. It was a dream, nothing more, and the shade of Kaiba that I had seen was nothing more than my own imagination.

The kitchen was spotless and I looked around it from one of the three entryways that flanked the room. Shiny red tiled floors, maybe glazed terra cotta, mahogany wood cabinets, and silver hued appliances. I ran my hand over a silky smooth, immaculately clean Viking stove top and felt a slight sense of familiarity. Kaiba had cooked here. I was sure of it.

One of the refrigerators held nothing but beverages, from wine to soda and milk. Cooking aides like half-and-half and pure vanilla extract, and condiments like ketchup and mustard. The second refrigerator, which was against the opposite wall, held the food. Fresh fruit and vegetables, and premade meals that were neatly labeled and stacked on the bottom two shelves. The handwriting was feminine and neatly printed.

_This must be how Mokuba cooked breakfast yesterday, _I mused, _But none of this looks very breakfast friendly. Miso, leek soup, fried fish, sushi, hamburgers…None of this is right. Mokuba deserves better._

Only thing was, I couldn't find anything that looked right. I'd seen him eating that bagel, but after hunting through the kitchen, I could find everything but those darned bagels. I found silverware, dishes, pots, pans, measuring cups, and stuff like that. Nothing helpful though.

Then I found the pantry.

Ah, pantry, thy name is glorious.

The pantry was in a slight hallway in the rear of the kitchen, where a fourth entryway would have been. It was a long, walk-in pantry almost as big as my walk-in closet. With just a quick scan, I estimated there was enough food stored here for at least a year. Shelving units lined the walls and were at least four feet taller than I was. A ladder that was attached to a ceiling track had wheels on the top feet. Handy for reaching the top shelves.

I scanned the labels, but the names meant nothing to me. The descriptions of the food did mean something to me, I _can_ read, but I figured that knowing what green beans and tomato soup were had to be a given. There were bigger containers of bottled water near the rear of the pantry, along with sodas and the like. A large stash of potato chips, microwaveable popcorn, and candy that was also in the back could only be due to Mokuba's influence. Something deep down inside felt, if not repulsed, then definitely against the thought of ingesting junk food.

My lips quirked at the thought of simply setting out a box of cereal (of which I'd seen _many_ varieties in the pantry), and two bowls and spoons. Somehow, I doubted Mokuba would appreciate the action.

Then again…

"Seto, I know you hit your head and all, but you could've done a _little _more than this."

My little brother was eyeing the array of cereal boxes I'd placed on the same table he'd set for me yesterday. A variable sea of cereal boxes, ranging from _Cookie Crisp_ to _Special K,_ sat in the center of the table. Two bowls were stacked one on the other, and two spoons lay near the bowls. A plastic gallon container of milk sat on the other side of the bowls. Little beads of condensation glazed its sides.

"I wasn't going to pour the cereal in your bowl for you," I said nonchalantly, feigning innocence, though I knew exactly what he meant. "If you'd prefer something else, I did see a lovely assortment of cereal bars in the pantry."

"Marianna is going to kill you if you messed up her pantry."

"Nope, all I did was take out some cereal."

"Some?!" Mokuba looked at me with a look that could've killed, "You took out _every _box of cereal in the pantry! I did a whole lot more for you yesterday!"

"Is this the guilt trip?"

"You bet it is!" Mokuba sighed resignedly and shook his head, "Honestly, Seto."

"Sure, and if I remember correctly…" I ignored Mokuba's snicker at that, "…a certain someone who shall remain nameless…Mokuba…simply heated up precooked breakfast items. How bad could taking out boxes of cereal be compared to that?"

"You've never eaten cereal, Seto," Mokuba sat at the table and grabbed the box of _Cookie Crisp_, "It's for me and the others."

"What others?" He had shocked me.

_Oh please tell me I don't have other siblings I've forgotten about…_

"The maids and others," he shrugged, "I don't know for sure how many other people work here, but there are enough for Marianna to get all this food. It's not just for us."

Phew.

"So what's on the agenda?" I sat in a chair opposite of my little brother and grabbed a box of _Nutri-Grain. _I'd looked them over earlier and this one looked like the one to best fill me up. I started to shake the cereal into my bowl, but stopped when I saw Mokuba staring at me. "What?"

"Like I said before. You _never_ eat cereal. Come to think of it, I've never seen you eat breakfast," He made a face, "And that cereal is just gross."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It tastes like baked cardboard," Mokuba dug into his cereal.

With a shrug, I poured some milk into the bowl and tried a spoonful. Crunchy, but good. Maybe it was a little bland, but it tasted as if it might keep me from getting hungry before lunch.

After the cereal was eaten, and bowls and spoons washed and put away, Mokuba helped me replace the cereal boxes in the pantry. He talked as we did, suggesting things we should do, papers we should read, and things to avoid. He would give me a copy of my schedule for school and then reunite me with my books and the homework I'd done three weeks ago.

He left me in my office and said he had to get some laundry from the dryer. My little brother was ever proficient with basic appliances. The room fell quiet when he left, though not as eerily quiet as last night. While it was only nine thirty in the morning, I felt a chill, almost as cold as the one in my dream last night, trickle along my spine. It felt like someone was watching me, staring at me from behind.

Grabbing a sharpened pencil from the top of the desk, I spun around in the chair, ready to face whatever was behind me. I felt stupid when I saw nothing but the open window, which was only letting in sunlight and cool morning air. It wasn't too cold to keep the windows open, and it definitely wasn't cold enough to explain the chill I'd felt.

I dropped the pencil back on the desktop and stood up from the chair. I heard the wheels roll on the hard plastic floor cover that protected the rug that sat under the desk as I walked to the window. The curtains ruffled slightly in the small breeze, and I pushed them back to look out the window. The scent of autumn wafted in and the sounds of chirping birds rang in the courtyard below.

Birds flew around the dragon fountain and a couple were brave enough to sit on the dragon's shoulders. A few more hopped along the rim of the basin and dipped their beaks into the pool at the dragon's clawed feet. Others darted in and out of the water, using it as a birdbath. I felt content at the sight of the birds and at the feel of the breeze along my face. It was warm now, with only a slight hint of the chill I instinctively knew would come with winter.

The PDA on the desktop, with both of its batteries fully charged, beeped twice to let me know I was about to miss an appointment. I sighed and reluctantly turned back to the desk. Slipping into the seat, I picked up the stylus and clicked the dismiss button on the alert. Mokuba had shown me the PDA and how to use it, though it had felt familiar enough that I quickly picked up on its use. I had set appointments for myself, trying to readjust myself into a schedule that mimicked the one I'd had when I had all of my memories.

There was a neat stack of papers on my desk. They sat square in the middle and patiently awaited my review. It wasn't a very large pile, but it did contain all of the work I'd done since the beginning of the school year. There were two cd's on top of the pile. Mokuba had told me that the disks contained all of the work from the last two years of school. That had surprised me, but on looking back, it made sense.

Seto Kaiba had contingency plans.

To be honest, I didn't want to look at any school work, new or old. I'd looked at it twenty minutes ago, and it had been a surprise to find that it seemed incredibly familiar. I had gone through ten pages of work, reflecting on the neat print and the carefully copied notes, and none of it had not looked unfamiliar with the homework. I could remember writing it down, could just about feel the classroom around me, and just about hear the teacher speaking. It was as if I'd been completely in synch with my memories and I had gotten excited about it all. I had almost called for Mokuba, certain that I'd gotten my memories back.

Then I had seen the newspaper, a business centric publication, that was sitting on the left side of my desk, and nothing about it had looked remotely familiar. Even a front page article about a new technology being released by Kaiba Corp had been as distant to me as anything so far.

With a little sigh, I scanned the desktop and grabbed the television remote that was sitting on the right side of the desk. Maybe something on tv would be able to take my mind off of my worries. I flicked the power on and the fake artwork on the screen dissolved and quickly reformed into the last channel viewed. It was a news channel. A blonde woman was talking, but the volume was set low. I turned up the volume and her voice softly filled the room with a confident tone.

"…business mogul Seto Kaiba had been hospitalized since last Friday."

_How did they know? _My heart skipped a beat and my mouth went dry.

As she spoke, a clip of news footage replaced the woman's face. It was me, walking calmly through a field of news reporters. Cameras flashed and microphones surrounded me, but I just kept walking. I wore a dark blue suit and my hair was impeccably kept. The woman continued to tell the story.

"While his condition was not known at the time of the accident, doctors at Domino General Hospital had assured us that the teen CEO was doing well. In fact, he has been released earlier today."

"That's not true," I whispered and felt sick that one of my secrets had been publicized, "I was released on Friday. Why did they lie? To keep my release a secret? I don't get it."

"The young boy Mr. Kaiba had saved was seven year old Timothy Elohssa. The youth escaped with minor cuts and bruises and was not hospitalized."

The name of the child meant nothing to me, but I felt a headache swiftly coming on. I shoved the seat back as I stood up and walked quickly from the office. I needed to find Mokuba _now_. I might have amnesia, but even I knew this wasn't a good thing.

* * *

I'm really sorry about the shortness of this chapter, but I wanted to get something out for you guys! I've had a very rough time these last few weeks. Most of it is work related, but a very great deal has been personal. Also, I know I promised you would get to see some old fuddy duddies, as well as Yugi and Co, but this chapter was not right for them. I swear they _will_ make an appearance very soon.

Plus, as he mentioned earlier in this chapter, this Seto will be referring to himself as Seto and the guy he sees on tv (other than the short clip above), as well as the hallucination, as Kaiba. I will admit that I was inspired to write in this twist (about them being two different beings) based on a very cool story I read on called '_Seto and Kaiba._' I apologize to the author, but I don't remember your author name, plus it doesn't seem to be on right now. However, I must insist that you go read it if you can find it. It's very, _very_ good.

I think I will be writing this on a paranormal basis, and I will admit that the idea of a hallucination of Kaiba is influenced a little more than slightly by the duel monsters a sleep deprived Kaiba sees in '_Legally Insane_' by X-Parrot, another story that I absolutely love and insist that you read. I won't make _'a beautiful oblivion' _any weirder or stranger than that…

…At least, until the yamis make their appearance. By the way, both Atem and Bakura insist that they're not old fuddy duddies, but I must insist that they are! Wouldn't you agree?


	6. Chapter 6

Hey there, it's me, Mokuba. I _had _been having a good week right up until I got the phone call from Roland about Seto being…getting…

It still hurts to even _think_ about it.

Seto got hit by a car.

If it had been closer to Christmas, I'm sure some idiot would've made jokes or song parodies about how "Seto got run over by a reindeer" or some junk like that.

Not like they'd have a job in this, or maybe any city, if that had happened. Seto would have…_would…_make sure that anyone who did something like that would never work in Domino again.

If Seto had been able to remember much of anything.

It was such a huge news story. Seto's accident was on the local news, the international news, and especially the entertainment news. Everyone knew how heroic he'd been. No one really knew _why_ he pushed the kid out of the way, only to end up as the one being hit. The press has theorized on it. The tabloids have guessed about it. The entertainment world ran contests on it.

Only I know the true reason and it makes me feel guilty to even think about it.

There's not a doubt in my mind that Seto saw that boy and put my face over his. It didn't matter that my brother didn't know the boy; all that mattered in Seto's mind was how that boy could've been me.

So he did his superhero, saving Mokuba thing, and got run down by some idiot behind the wheel of a car. Then again, no one's really sure what kind of car. All the witnesses have said was that it's a blue car. There hasn't been a big consensuses over whether it had four doors or two, or if it was a sedan or a small SUV.

When Roland called me, I was still in school. I had been staying after to do some extra credit work for a stupid class that I was just about to pass. I couldn't let Seto know that I was failing…er…not doing very well, in a stupid creative writing class.

Let's be serious here, failure and my brother are two words you wouldn't hear together in the same sentence. Other than this one.

So there I was, just printing the paper I'd written, when my cell phone went off. That alone let me know it was serious even before I answered it. Only two people had the number for my phone – Seto and Roland – and it was only used for emergencies. Since Seto rarely ever used it to call me (and at the time, I knew I'd told him I was staying after school, just so he wouldn't send a limo for me), I knew it was Roland. I know it sounds silly to have a cell phone that was only used for emergencies (or the occasional limo request), but my brother doesn't just control Kaiba Corp, he controls _everything_. Especially if it has something to do with security and me.

I don't think the phone would've helped me when Pegasus had kidnapped me, but since Seto gave me the phone long after that, I don't think it matters. All that mattered was that Seto gave me the phone due to things like Duelist Kingdom, and – er – that small incident with the Rare Hunters. Um, I'd rather not talk about that. It wasn't one of my brighter moments.

One moment you're the controller for one of the largest dueling tournaments in history and the next you've been kidnapped by freaks in purple robes.

To put things frankly, it was _scary _to go to the hospital to see Seto. Yet, if I'd thought it was scary to go to the hospital, it was horrifying to see him laying in a coma. The memory of my brother that I'll be the least fond of will forever be seeing him laying on that bed, so pale and completely unconscious.

I was there daily for a week. I made the hospital staff not only remove the patient who would've been with my brother, I had them remove _all _of the patients on the floor, and I had them put security staff (from Kaiba Corp) on the whole floor.

More than a little extreme, I know, but I'm sure Seto would've wanted it like that. Plus, I didn't know if the person who had run him down had meant to or didn't, and I didn't want to risk anyone slipping into his room to…to…I didn't want someone…

…Man…This is so _hard. _I never in a million years would've expected this to happen. I know that my brother wouldn't have expected it either. An assassin? Yeah. Espionage? Of course. But something as simple as getting hit by a car? Unthinkable.

So I stayed with him daily. Doctor Mueller had told me to expect my brother to be in a coma…a _coma..._anywhere from a couple of days, to a couple of months, maybe even years. But I know my brother and I know how much he hates to let time go by without it being productive. There's nothing productive about being in a coma.

When he squeezed my hand, I almost had a heart attack. When I saw his eyes open and focus on me, I just about died. My brother…he was awake only after a week! I was so happy I didn't know what to do at first. I just knew that things would be different now that he was awake.

I just didn't know _how _different.

That morning was so sunny, so warm for an October morning. I'd been so happy, so ecstatically happy that Seto was awake. I wanted to run from the room to get Doctor Mueller. Since I'd had all of the patients cleared from the floor (something I had promised a large donation from Kaiba Corp to achieve), Doctor Mueller was focused only on my brother.

It was only after seeing my brother awake that I felt stupid for clearing out the floor. Had it been too extreme? There were no break ins, other than bad attempts by the paparazzi, so maybe no one had been after Seto. Maybe the accident had been an honest mistake. Of course, I don't think anyone would refer to a hit and run as an honest mistake.

When I saw him staring at me was when something major happened. It was when I went overboard in trying to make him happy that my world crumbled.

He didn't know who I was. He even thought that _his_ name was Mokuba.

Suddenly, the sunny warmth of the day seemed to mock me. Such a perfect day was happening outside, yet everything bad was happening inside. I'd ran out of the room in a manner much different than my earlier intentions. I'd gotten the doctor, but he had nothing good to say. Only that Seto's memory loss was temporary and should come back soon.

Of course, the good doctor wasn't sure how soon. Much like the coma, it was a days-weeks-months sort of thing. But Seto didn't have days-weeks-months. Days, maybe, but not weeks or months. Kaiba Corp could be bought out long before then. Seto _had _to get his memory back before he and I were the only ones who knew.

A couple of days, and a huge mess of tests, had gone by before Seto was released from the hospital. He didn't want to leave it. That much made me realize how serious things were with his memory loss. Seto would never want to be in the hospital. Again, it was a waste of time, unless it was for some sort of red carpet, very exclusive black tie affair.

I'd kept in touch with Roland the whole time Seto was in the hospital. He came by a few times to check on us and to let us know how the company was doing. It was actually doing good. It was ironic that Seto's accident actually resulted in a rise in sales throughout the product lines sold by Kaiba Corp.

Bad news came in the shape of the press knowing that it was my brother who had been hit. Of course, they made more of a celebrity out of him than he already was by letting the world know that he saved a young boy.

Roland had offered to bring a laptop in, but I didn't know everything that Seto did. I knew a lot, but not as much as I needed. Luckily, Roland knew enough to fill in the gaps I didn't know. With me watching Seto so closely, it was up to Roland (and a select few Seto trusted exclusively) to keep things running. So far, he'd let me know, so good.

But just good wasn't good enough.

If Seto couldn't get his memories back fast, then things would be turning very ugly, very fast. The corporate world was like shark filled waters. Once they smelled the blood of the weak and injured, things were over for the weak and injured.

And as if his memory loss wasn't enough, then there were the physical injuries.

He had a bruised wrist, bruised ribs, brush burns on his right arm and shoulder, and the results of a concussion. The doctor said that Seto was lucky to have been in such good shape. What he said left out a large because. As in, because if he wasn't, he'd be dead. It didn't need to be said. I could tell.

Only Seto didn't have a clue as to what the doctor meant. I could tell that, too. The blank look kind of gave it away.

I need to be fair to Seto because this wasn't his fault. But it's gonna be really hard. Until he gets his memories back, he's gonna be vulnerable. Kaiba Corp will be vulnerable.

And if this was intentional, it could turn out to be deadly.

I really didn't want to think about it like that, but there was no other option. I could go on and on about it, but I doubt that you want to hear about it. The life of a celebrity, wah, wah. Seto chose it, blah blah. I know all that and you do, too. Yeah, he knew all about overzealous fans, people who wanted to challenge him in Dueling, and companies who wanted to try to take Kaiba Corp down a notch. He prepared for that.

He didn't prepare for this.

Now, what the press doesn't know, is that he's got temporary amnesia along with the injuries. My job is to make sure they never find out. He's been doing good around the manor. It looks like he's remembering things. The layout of the manor isn't confusing to him anymore and his cooking is improving. It's almost as good as it used to be before the accident.

The school stuff seems to be one of the things his accident didn't affect. The work stuff still seems to be foggy to him. I'd rather it be the other way around, but I'm not the one in charge of his mind. There were always times when I wished that he would drop his guard. Even when he was at home he would keep it up. Times like these are when it could hurt all of us.

He looks a little spooked at times, though. Like he's seen something that, if not scares him, it sure startles him. I can't remember ever seeing my big brother being startled, but…well…there it is.

Oh, Seto…I can't bear to see you like this! Yet…there's a part of me, a selfish part, that wants to keep you like this. I don't want you going back and being hard and unreachable.

Seeing you nervous and apprehensive makes you seem real and touchable.

I'm getting a little worried about him though. Yesterday I saw him muttering at thin air. It was just like I'd seen Yugi do once.

Yugi.

So many times I'd gone to him for help. I was seriously considering going to him and confiding in him. If anyone outside of this manor could help, maybe it would be him.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have him come over. Definitely not Joey.

Then again, maybe seeing Joey might spark something in my brother's befuddled brain.

Hmm…


End file.
